Haunted
by deathbybunny
Summary: AU. An abandoned house haunts the neighborhood that Bonnibel and her friends live in. On a night they dared explore it, she catches a glimpse of something in that house. Will she give into her curiosity and explore it again or will the house remain steeped in mystery? MarcelinexPrincessBubblegum
1. Chapter 1

**AN**: This story really came out of nowhere. There I was working on another story when suddenly, a random idea hit me square in the face and next thing I know this chapter was done. It seems like an interesting enough idea so I'm going to roll with it. I don't think this is going to be a very long story. Maybe 4 chapters at the most, but short stories can be just as fun as long ones. So this story is definitely AU since everyone is human. Also, just a heads up, but the character named Felicia is supposed to be Flame Princess. Obviously since everyone is human, I tried to give them normal human names. Almost everyone had one with the exception of LSP, Flame Princess, and Lady Rainicorn (sort of). I think I did a decent enough job with their names.

Oh and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it! I guess this is my gift to everyone for this day. I hope you enjoy this little tale.

Haunted

No one ever dared go near the abandoned home. The house itself was actually a nice building but time had worn away much of its beauty. Doors and windows were boarded up. The garden was left to grow out of control. Bushes, vines, and trees were overgrown doing their best to hide the house from prying eyes. The building looked older than it was but with the way it'd fallen into disrepair, it seemed like it was from another time period. The outside certainly looked intimidating but it wasn't the outside that scared people away, it was what had happened inside. The stories varied from person to person but it always ended the same. The most popular version of the story told of a family that moved in about 40 years ago. They were an ordinary family consisting of a man, a woman and a little girl. There was never any indication that anything was amiss. The father was the owner of his own business at least people thought he was with the fancy cars the family owned and the personal guards that the family seemed to have around them not to mention that the father was always dressed in suits when leaving the home.

The house they'd moved into had been built from the ground up before the family moved in. It was obvious they were well off. No one thought to ask what kind of business the father was involved in and instead chose to go about their daily business. The family caused no problems and therefore they saw no reason to cause trouble for them as well. For a few years after they'd moved in, there was little interest in what might be going on behind the imposing iron bars that fenced the house in. The father came and went, the wife rarely left the house, but when she did it would always be in the company of two bodyguards. The child was rarely ever seen. The only time anyone would ever catch a glimpse of her was when she'd leave with both her parents. Many speculated that the parents preferred that their child be home schooled since the girl looked old enough to be attending school. Some said it was because she was in poor health. Neighbors thought this was a possibility with the way the little girl looked so pale and weak.

Whispers began to go around the neighborhood about the odd way the family lived. During the day, it was mostly quiet, but at night the house was always alive with people going in and out. Still the neighbors did not bother with questioning the odd family. Who were they to judge the way a family lived? As long as they did not cause any problems for everyone else then they could live however they deemed fit.

That all changed on a cold December night. For once, there was no coming and going of guests at the house. Instead, it was eerily quiet and most of the lights were off. In a flash, the quiet night was shattered when gun fire rattled through the night. Screams were heard, windows shattered, tires screeched on the pavement from the cars that escaped the scene of the crime.

By morning, bodies were being pulled from the house. Among them was the mother and several of the bodyguards they'd seen often in the house. The father was taken out of the house in handcuffs, many recalled seeing him covered in blood. Whose it belonged to, no one could say for sure. The last person to be pulled out of the house was the sickly little girl. Child protection services whisked her away from the scene that would surely haunt her for years to come.

In the weeks that followed, the neighborhood was swamped with police, FBI agents, and news crews trying to get as much information about the family that use to live there. The word "mob" was thrown around quite frequently during those times. There was a mess of information being thrown around, but the people were able to piece together a little bit of the story. The police suspected that the father was the head of a mob family while others were saying he the right hand man to the person they'd been trying to catch. No one could figure out for sure what it was that the man did because he had refused to speak. What was confirmed though was that he was a criminal and would be going away for a long time.

Eventually the news crews left in search of more exciting stories to cover, police officers took what they'd needed and the house was soon left for time to do what it pleased with it. For many years, the house was left in its abandoned state. No one wanted to purchase, much less, move in. With its history, any realtor was hard pressed to cover up the murders that occurred in the home. Instead, the people watched as the house fell into disrepair as stories continued to be passed along among the people who moved into the neighborhood. The stories of course had been embellished and the story of the family varied from tale to tale, but one thing was for sure and that was that people died in the house and because of this many thought it was haunted.

These haunted stories began to pop up from the children that grew up in the neighborhood. With its very creepy look, the house became a place for kids to test their courage. Children, teenagers, and even some adults would venture past the creaky old gate, past old police tape that could still be seen in certain parts of the house, and through the front doors that were falling off its hinges in an attempt to prove to friends that they were not a bunch of chickens. The ones that went in and came out would more often than not claim to have seen a pale lady with black hair roaming the halls or sounds of footsteps coming from the rooms upstairs. These claims continued on for many years until they became part of the houses mythology. It seemed like the house was forever cursed to be the haunted house of Peppermint Lane.

"Hurry up guys!"

"Ssshh! Shut up Finn! You're going to get us caught!"

"Haha, sorry Felicia. I'm just really excited to get there."

Felicia DiCicco shook her head at how hyper her boyfriend was. Finn Mertens was your typical 14 year old who had recently moved to the neighborhood. She'd met Finn after he moved across the street from her. In his short time since his arrival, he'd made friends with practically every kid in the neighborhood, even the older ones and got himself a girlfriend to boot. It was inevitable that he'd hear the tales of the local haunted house. Finn liked to think of himself an adventurer and having this perfect place to explore just down the street from him was too hard to resist. It didn't take long for him to convince a few of his friends to join him in his exploration of the house. They'd all agreed that it would be better to go late at night when it would be far scarier to explore. Felicia just hoped they didn't run into anything while they were there. She was well aware of all the stories that floated around the house and she was definitely anything but excited to go inside.

"He can't help it. He's always hyperactive."

"You make it sound like a bad thing Jake."

Jake DiMaggio was Finn's best friend. Jake was Finn's next door neighbor and the two hit if off almost immediately. Jake was a year older than Finn but that didn't keep them from being the best of buds. Through Jake, Finn was able to meet all the people he'd consider his posse. Jake's Girlfriend, Adelaide Rainicorn walked up from behind Jake and said something to her boyfriend in Korean.

"That's not fair Lady, we can't understand you!" Finn groaned.

"It's not our fault you don't want to learn Korean." Jake teased.

"Sorry Finn. It's just so much fun to tease you guys like this." Lady giggled.

Adelaide, or Lady as she was called by her close friends, was the same age as Jake. She'd been born in Korea but her family moved to the states when she was 8 years old.

"Oh my glob, do you guys not know _how_to be sneaky?"

"I have to agree. We won't get very far at this rate."

The small group was joined by two girls. The taller of the two had striking pink hair. The girls pink hair was obviously not natural, but the older girl had decided to dye it pink during a period of rebellion when she was fifteen. Ever since then she'd kept her hair that particular shade. She'd grown quite fond of it even though her parents kept telling her that she would never be able to get into any profession with that outrageous color. She was determined to prove them wrong. This girl was Bonnibel Bubblegum. When Finn first met the 18-year old he'd developed quite the crush on the older girl, but when it became obvious that she would never return his feelings, he decided it was time to let go. He felt he made the right decision. Finn and Bonnie were still good friends and he looked to the older girl for guidance whenever he needed it.

"This is why I said Finn was a terrible person to sneak out with."

The other girl was Penelope Ward, who everyone called Lumpy for her rather curvaceous figure. The 18 year old was one of Bonnie's best friends along with their Korean speaking friend. Out of all of them, she was the most out spoken which had earned her many enemies in their school since she was known to be quite the gossiper. Much like Bonnibel, Lumpy had also dyed her hair a strange color during her rebellious streak. In fact, the two girls had dyed each other's hair but unlike Bonnibel, Lumpy had yet to grow out of her rebellious nature.

"I can be sneaky if I want to be!" Finn protested.

"Then shut up!" Lumpy smacked the blonde boys head.

"Oww!"

"Lumpy, don't be so mean to him." Bonnibel admonished. "Now let's go before we really _do_ get caught."

The six friends headed off towards the house although they still weren't being as quiet as they'd hoped. Still, it didn't matter since most of the people in the neighborhood were asleep in their homes. They wouldn't notice the rambunctious teenagers who talked animatedly. Their chatter immediately came to a halt when they stood at the corner of the street where the house resided. Looking up at the house, it seemed a lot darker than they'd thought it would be. The teenagers looked at each other, almost afraid to leave the safety they felt under the street light.

"So… did you guys bring flash lights?" Finn asked.

On cue, they all brought one out.

"O-oh. Good. I guess we can all go in."

"What's the matter Finn?" Jake nudged his pal. "Scared."

"Am not!"

"Then let's go!"

Even though Jake said that rather enthusiastically, no one moved a muscle.

"Are we doing this or what?" Lumpy taunted everyone.

Bonnibel threw her arms up.

"This is ridiculous. Ghosts aren't real."

"If you're so sure then why don't you go in?" Jake threw his two cents in.

"Fine." Bonnibel crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll prove to you all that we're scared of absolutely nothing."

"Bonnie, are you sure that's a good idea?" Lady asked worried. They never agreed to go in by themselves since they didn't know what kind of dangers the house posed, supernatural or otherwise.

"You don't have to Bonnie. Jake's just being a butt head." Felicia hoped to dissuade her friend. Maybe they could all just go home and forget about this crazy plan to explore the house. Having grown up in the neighborhood, she was scared of what could be in the decrepit home. Her parents had been around when the massacre had occurred at least her parents called it that. She didn't doubt that's what had happened especially if the stories of the mob being involved were true.

"I'll be fine. Let's get this over with so we can go home. We've got school tomorrow."

Bonnibel bravely took the first step out of the light and towards the creaking gates of the house. The rest of her friends looked at each other nervously. They felt guilty knowing that Bonnibel was going in alone. Determined not be complete chickens about it, they turned on their flash lights and joined Bonnie at the entrance to the house. Their lights flashed on the old gate. A rusted letter "A" could be made out on the right gate. The other was in such disrepair that whatever letter use to be there had long since fallen from its intended place. Bonnie flashed her light at the house. Predictably, it was dark, the light of the moon casting eerie shadows from every corner. Steeling her resolve, Bonnie pushed the gate just enough to let her in. The squeak from the rusted hinges caused everyone to jump at the sudden noise.

The friends laughed nervously as one by one they made their way through the opening Bonnie made. They didn't get far though as they stood rooted to their spot on the path. Bonnie looked back at them hoping that maybe one of them would follow her lead. She was slightly disappointed that none did. She couldn't blame them though. For all her talk about how the supernatural was nonsense, even she had to admit that it was easy for one's mind to cast illusions of things that weren't really there. Fear could easily make anyone think they saw something or hear noises that might be normal in everyday life but seem like something supernatural in the right circumstances.

She directed her light on the path that would lead her to the front door. Step by step, she drew closer to the place where she'd heard ghost stories about since she was a child. In her mind, she kept repeating to herself that science could explain everything that happened in the house. That science was the answer for everything. Yet as she stood before the door, that phrase seemed to do little to ease her nerves as she reached out and pushed the door open. Predictably, it groaned in protest from the years since it'd been in use. The house was falling apart, Bonnibel could tell as much. The creaking of the floor boards were her only friends in the hallway of the home. Bonnibel couldn't help but stop to admire the craftsmanship of some of the house. It helped to take her mind off of the creepiness of the whole place. She imagined the home must have looked amazing when it was actually in use. A lot of the things that remained in the house seemed to be expensive items.

The floor boards behind her creaked.

Bonnibel froze in her spot. That was impossible. No one else had followed her inside. So why did the floor board creak? She played it off as nothing. This was an old house, one that was falling apart at that. Of course there would be odd noises. It couldn't be help when things were falling or breaking from years of neglect.

The creak happened again. This time it seemed to move closer and closer to her.

Bonnibel didn't know what to do. She felt her heart beat increase, her palms become sweaty and her whole body shook with fear.

"Who are you?" a voice whispered into her ear.

The pink haired girl screamed. She turned and shoved whatever was behind her out of her way. All rational thought had left her and all she could think of was getting the hell out of there as fast as she could. She didn't know what motivated her to do so, but right before she ran through the front door, she turned back and flashed her light at the dark hallway. The only thing she could make out was a pair of red eyes looking back at her as she cleared the door way. She could've have sworn the eyes were laughing at her.

"Bonnie!"

She heard the worried scream of her friend. Just as she reached the group, the lights in the house suddenly began to flicker on and off. Terrified, the teenagers screamed as they escaped through the gates. They ran until they couldn't run anymore. All they cared about was putting as much distance as they could between them and that cursed house. Eventually, they ran out of steam and collapsed on Finn's lawn. All the commotion seemed to alert Finn's parents who stepped out to check what all the screaming was about.

"Finn? What in the world are you doing out so late? I though you went to bed hours ago!" his mother scolded.

"T-The house!" Finn pointed in the direction of the haunted house they'd escaped.

His parents watched in what could only be described as morbid fascination as the lights continued to flicker before they finally turned off.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day." Finn's dad commented.

"Regardless, you're still in trouble young man. As for the rest of you, go home. I'll have a talk with your parents about this tomorrow." She took a look at the haunted house again before ushering the children to leave and making sure her son actually went to bed this time.

Bonnie snuck back into her house without alerting her parents but knew this was a small reprieve seeing as how Mrs. Mertens was going to rat her out in the morning. Sighing, she changed into her PJ's. She'd never felt so glad to be back in her own room, but it was hard to feel safe when she recalled what she'd seen in that house. Those red eyes staring back at her. What had that been? Had that actually been a ghost? And what about that voice? Had that also just been her mind playing tricks on her? The pink haired girl walked to the window and looked out in the direction of the haunted house. From her spot, she could only see part of the roof and some of the taller trees. If she had imagined everything then what about the lights? That house had not had any power to it for **years** so how had they turned on? That she couldn't rule out as a simple trick of her mind. She hadn't been the only one to witness it after all.

She quickly closed the curtains, not wanting to look at the house any longer. Whether it was a trick of her mind or not, she had experienced **something** in that house that she couldn't explain. At least not right away. If she hoped to answer any of her questions, she'd have to go back. The prospect was not a welcomed one, but what choice was there? Would she just live the rest of her life wondering what it was she'd seen in that house? She climbed into bed, wrapping her sheets around her tightly. Her eyelids closed with those questions still in her mind. In her dreams, blood red eyes chased her as they asked:

"_Who are you?"_

**AN**: So what did you guys think? Review and let me know if it's something you guys are interested in seeing more of this.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN**: First off I want to thank everyone who reviewed this story. Feedback is always appreciated for anything I write. Secondly, I want to give a special shout out to all the guest reviewers. I realized a lot of you guys do take your time to write me a review and I hadn't properly given you guys my thanks, so thank you and I hope to continue hearing from you guys.

Now, without further ado, here is chapter 2. Enjoy.

Haunted

"So there we were, holding down our perimeter as Bonnie went in to check out the house when suddenly bam!" the students gathered around them at lunch jumped as Finn slammed his hands on the table. Bonnibel could only roll her eyes as the blonde boy told of the tale of their adventure from the night before. Honestly, most of the story was exaggerated since none of her friends had done any sort of exploring of their so called perimeters. It couldn't be helped though. She had to admit that Finn's story was entertaining but in her opinion, the real story was just as good on its own. The other's though probably didn't want to look like a bunch of chickens in front of the student body and chose not to correct their friend.

"Bonnie came running out of the house. We gathered around her trying to figure out what happened but before we could, the lights in the house began to flicker!"

"But how?" a random student asked.

"Yeah, the house has no power right?"

"That's the weird part." Finn answered. "There isn't supposed to be, but that isn't the most scary part." Finn paused for dramatic effect. "The real scary part was what Bonnie saw in the house."

"What did you see Bonnibel?" another student asked.

"Red eyes."

"W-what?"

"That's what I saw."

"Ooooo" Their audience stared in wonder at the group that dared venture into the haunted house. It'd been awhile since anyone from their school had braved the night in order to go there. Some had gone during the day so they could scope out the kind of place they'd be exploring, however, much like she and her friends had discovered; it was a whole different ball game when you actually went at night. You'd never think it was the same place from the way it looked in the dark. Many chickened out at the last minute and never went in. The haunted house of Peppermint Lane really did live up to its name.

Her encounter with that person in the house proved as much. Bonnibel had been refusing to refer to her encounter in the house as a supernatural phenomenon for one very simple reason: she'd been able to push the person out of her way. After having time to collect her thoughts on the matter, she sorted out everything that happened while she was in the house. The voice had been far too clear to be considered a ghostly wail or moan. If she was to believe all those ghost hunting shows on TV, which she didn't but it was her only reference on the subject, ghosts weren't able to communicate so clearly. Perhaps a stray word here and there but mostly it was unintelligible noises. Then there was the fact she actually shoved someone out of her way. It hadn't been a slight push either, it was a full on two handed shove with all her might. Last time she checked, you couldn't even touch a ghost; therefore her hypothesis had been right. There were no such things as ghosts. If it wasn't supernatural then the question became, who was in that house? Why were they there?

Bonnibel's mind hadn't ceased her thoughts on the matter as she went through her normal school day. Her thoughts constantly drifted back to that house. She couldn't help it. She hadn't encountered anything this interesting in a very long time. With this being her senior year of school, she'd been consumed with preparing to go to college, filling out paper work for said colleges, SAT prep classes, the works. The stress of making sure she excelled in all her work had started to get to her which is why she readily agreed to sneak out with her friends that night. It was something that didn't involve her stressing for tests and it was a welcome respite from all her studying.

At some point school ended. Bonnibel couldn't tell you how since she'd paid no attention to her classes. She walked with Finn and the rest of the gang smiling and adding to their conversations when appropriate, but her mind, for the most part, wasn't into it.

"There it is again." Finn said in awe.

The group stopped to stare at the house in the distance.

"Man, I can't believe we actually went there." Jake added.

"Something we're not doing again." Felicia crossed her arms. "We can say for sure it's haunted and leave it at that."

Bonnibel couldn't agree with that statement but chose to keep quiet. She wanted to go and check out the house again during the day, but she couldn't since she was grounded. Finn's mom had kept her promise and informed all their parents of their delinquent ways. Her parents had not been very happy and grounded her for a week with restricted internet and phone usage.

"Seriously, I wish they'd just bulldoze that house already." Lumpy looked at her phone for the time and sighed. "Ugh, I need to get home soon before my parents think I ran away again."

"Yeah, me too." Lady said. "Not the running away part, but mom and dad are expecting me back at a certain time."

"Being grounded sucks." Finn lamented.

They all couldn't help but agree. The friends parted for the day. Bonnibel took one last look at the house before turning back towards her home.

"Did you know there are strange noises coming from that house?" Mrs. Bubblegum asked her husband at the dinner table.

"Strange noises?"

"Yes, I hear some of the neighbors said they thought they heard things getting tossed around that house."

"Well that's certainly strange. I was sure no one owned that place; then again it would explain why it hasn't been bulldozed yet. Who would've thought someone would actually claim it?"

"You were there last night weren't you honey?" Mrs. Bubblegum looked to her daughter. "Did you see anything strange?"

"We did see the lights flicker on and off." she chose to withhold the information about someone possibly being in the house as well. Something told her, her parents would more than likely freak out if they thought someone might be stalking around their neighborhood. If there was one thing Bonnibel had to admire about her neighborhood it was how tight knit of a community they were. Everyone knew each other and looked out for everyone's safety. The pink haired girl could only imagine the ruckus they'd stir up if they thought a dangerous character was sneaking around the neighborhood. She certainly didn't want to jeopardize her investigation on the matter by doing that. Then again, was the person sneaking around the house a danger to them? If that person was out to harm them they would have done it that night. She'd been in there all alone and all they did was scared the living daylights out of her; probably had a good laugh about it later. No, she'd venture to say that the person was more a trickster than anything else.

"The neighbors did say they saw the same thing as well." Mrs. Bubblegum commented. "I wonder what is going on in that house."

Bonnibel couldn't help but agree with her mother. What was happening there? She wanted to find out more than ever. Knowing that other people saw what she and her friends did only fueled her need to know even further. That night, she contemplated sneaking out again. It'd been ridiculously easy the first time. She didn't even need to go out a window or anything. She'd simply walked out the front door like she was going out for a simple errand in the middle of the day. Bonnibel was extremely temped to go at it alone, but thought against it. Even if she thought the person was harmless, it didn't hurt to have some back up just in case anything did happen. She went to bed that night, with a plan brewing in her mind.

"I'm going back into the house."

"What!"

Bonnibel and her friends had been enjoying a normal lunch when she dropped that bomb shell on them. Their reactions were to be expected. None of them wanted to return to that house. Not after what had happened. Why would you want to provoke a ghost? If they were to believe those ghosts shows, then it probably wasn't just a ghost. It could be a demon or some other evil thing that they didn't have any clue on how to handle.

"Why would you want to go back?" Felicia asked. "Wasn't the first time enough?"

"I don't think it was a ghost guys."

"B-but the lights flickered all weird!" Finn waved his hands around hoping to get his point across. "Plus you saw a ghost. You said so yourself!"

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "I said I saw red eyes. That doesn't mean it's a ghost."

"No one has red eyes except something evil!" Jake exclaimed. "Seriously, just don't go back in there."

"I'm telling you guys it wasn't a ghost! I pushed someone out of the way when I made a run for the door!"

"Wait, you actually touched it?" Lady squeaked. "Bonnie you really can't go back now!"

"Like, what if it's some weirdo hobo that lives there now? Just forget it girl." Lumpy agreed with her friends. "Whatever was there doesn't want us there."

Bonnibel looked unconvinced. She knew her friends were scared. Regardless of what it was that had actually scared them, in their minds, it was already established that it was something supernatural and they'd do anything to keep away from it.

"I'm going back. I need to find out what is going on."

"Why?" Finn liked to go on adventures more than anyone, but even he was skeptical about going back to the haunted house.

"Because…. I just do okay?"

Her friends stayed silent. They all though Bonnie had been acting a little weird since that night but they thought it was because she'd been the one to see the ghost they all thought was real. Maybe this was her way of trying to cope with her experience? Bonnibel wasn't one to believe in the supernatural. To her, science could resolve any mystery in the world if you gave it enough time. Her need to go back was probably her way of trying to disprove the supernatural, a way to establish order in her life again.

"I'll go with you." Finn said after a few moments of silence.

"What? Finn no!" Felicia grabbed her boyfriend's arm. "Wasn't what we saw enough proof that something is there?"

"Yeah, dude. We don't need to go making that thing angry." Jake shook his head. "Naw, let's just forget this whole thing."

"Bonnie doesn't think it's a ghost so I believe her. I'm going with her with or without you guys. When do you want to do this?" Finn asked the older girl.

"Tonight."

"Then I'll meet you at the usual spot."

The rest of lunch proceeded rather quietly. Bonnibel couldn't ignore the glares that Felicia was throwing at her. It couldn't be helped. Felicia was still wary of her even though Finn was her boyfriend. She couldn't blame her really. Who'd be comfortable with their significant other still being friends with the person they'd had a crush on? No one would be no matter how trusting they were of their partner. Jealousy would eventually rear its ugly head like it was doing right now. She just hoped that Felicia wouldn't stay mad at her for too long. She liked having the girl as a friend.

That night, Finn and Bonnibel walked together towards Peppermint Lane. Flashlights in hand, they were ready for anything the house might throw at them. As they approached the corner though, they were surprised to see that the rest of their friends were waiting for them.

"Guys?" Finn asked surprised.

"Yeah, we couldn't let you guys do this alone." Jake thumped his chest. "I ain't the kind of guy to leave his buddies like that."

"We all agreed there was safety in numbers." Lady added.

"Like I'd leave Finn alone with you…." Felicia mumbled to herself but Bonnibel heard it.

Still she was grateful that they showed up at all. There was definitely a sense of security with more people around.

"Let's get this over with then." Lumpy turned her flashlight on and walked towards the house. "I'm missing out on my precious beauty sleep."

Lumpy waited at the gate for her friends to catch up. Bonnibel took the lead seeing as she was the unofficial leader of this little excursion. The friends looked around and noticed something was a bit different from their previous visit. They couldn't put their finger on it though. Shrugging it off as the dark playing tricks on them, they proceeded onto the porch. Bonnibel opened the door like she had the first night but was surprised that there was no squeak of any kind from the door.

"Let's go." She whispered to her friends.

The group lit up as much of the foyer as they could. To their left was an entry way to a room as well as to their right. A stair case was a bit further down the foyer and it looked like there was more to the house past the stair case.

"Umm, this place looks pretty clean for an abandoned house." Lady commented. "Was it like this before Bonnie?"

"No, it was covered in dust and cobwebs."

The friends spread out to take a better look around.

"It looks more like an abandoned house over this way." Finn said from the end of the hall. "Looks like this goes to some sort of living room."

"Same over here." Lady and Jake were standing by the entrance to a different room. "This looks like it used to be a dining room."

"Like that makes no sense." Lumpy ran a finger along the bottom of the stair case. "Why is it all clean here but the rest of the house still looks like crap?"

"Maybe Bonnie's right." Finn and the others gathered by Lumpy. "I mean I don't think ghosts do much cleaning."

"So that means there's someone living here now?" Felicia asked unsure.

"I haven't seen anyone, but my parents said they've been hearing strange noises from the house." Lady informed them.

"Yeah, like, my parents say they saw the light come on last night so maybe there is." Lumpy flashed her light up the stair case and froze.

"So it looks like someone is here possibly cleaning up?" Bonnie began to theorize. "It's odd that we haven't seen anyone yet."

"Uh, guys?" Lumpy tried to get her friends attention.

"The person that lives here could be shy?" Lady offered.

"G-guys?" Lumpy tried again.

"Or a weirdo." Felicia commented off hand.

"Guys!" Lumpy finally yelled.

"What is it Lumpy?" Lady asked.

Lumpy pointed a shaky finger at towards the top of the stairs. Their eyes widened. Lumpy's flashlight illuminated a head of a person. Bonnie gasped as she recognized the red eyes that she'd seen the first night.

"Boo!"

"Ah!"

The teenagers ran out of the house and didn't look back. Gasping for breath, they stopped at the street corner under the safety of the light. Their attention was directed to the house again when the lights began to flicker on and off. They stopped after a moment and didn't turn back on.

"What was that?" Finn asked between gasps.

"A f-floating head!" Lumpy shrieked.

"It wasn't a floating head!" Bonnie exclaimed. "There was a body attached to it."

"Then a ghost!" Jake exclaimed.

"Ghosts don't say boo!" Felicia pointed out. "I think Bonnie's right guys. It's not a ghost."

"I think we should go home first." Bonnie took one final breathe, feeling herself calm down significantly. "We can figure out what to do next at school."

"Yeah, it wouldn't be good if we got caught again. We'll regroup at school!" Finn exclaimed.

The group nodded and went their separate ways. At lunch they were able to gather all the information they had so far and they agreed that this was probably not a ghost. Aside from the fact that ghosts didn't clean, they also didn't scare anyone by saying "boo". That was probably the lamest way to scare a person. They made no comment how they'd been easily scared by this simple tactic.

"It could be someone from our school." Jake offered.

"Maybe? I mean it's not like we're the only ones who've gone in the house." Finn said. "I don't know guys. Whoever this is, they're obviously pranking us."

"And pranking us good." Jake nodded in agreement.

"I think we're only going to solve this mystery by going back one more time." Bonnie concluded.

"Yeah, we gotta find whoever is doing this and teach them a lesson!" Lumpy punched the air a few times.

"Ah, I don't think we're going to beat anyone up Lumpy." Lady smiled nervously at her friend. At least she hoped they wouldn't have any sort of physical confrontation with anyone.

"Then it's settled. One last visit to put everything to rest?" Bonnie asked her friends.

They all nodded in agreement. The teenagers were all eager for school to come to an end. They would be that much closer to be being able to go out. It was exciting and scary all at the same time. This adventure was definitely more involving than the others they'd gone on before.

As soon as night fell, they snuck out to meet at the corner of Peppermint Lane where the house resided. Bonnibel arrived first and waited patiently for the rest of her friends. Lady and Jake came first followed by Lumpy and Felicia. All that remained was Finn.

"Where is he?" Bonnie tapped her feet impatiently. They were so close to figuring out what was going on in the house, she couldn't help but feel impatient to go in.

"Hey guys!"

"What took so long?" Bonnie asked.

"What you got there?" Jake pointed to the bag Finn was carrying.

Finn held up the bag triumphantly.

"It's our secret weapons!"

"Our what now?" Bonnie had no idea what he was talking about. They hadn't planned for anything that would require weapons.

Finn just grinned at his friends. Instead of answering, he figured it would be better to show them what he had brought for them. The blonde boy placed the bag down and reached inside. He pulled out a water gun.

"Uh, what's that for?" Lumpy asked unsure.

"It's a water gun."

"We can see that." Bonnie began "But what's it for?"

"I brought one for everyone so we can battle the ghost."

"But I thought we said there wasn't a ghost?" Felicia was now really confused.

"Yeah, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to be safe. There's holy water in these so we can cleanse the house and maybe the ghost."

Bonnie rubbed her forehead. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Do I even want to know where you got that "holy water"?"

"Uh, probably not."

Bonnie sighed. "Alright well I guess let's take a gun and go inside already."

As odd as the idea was, the others felt a bit safer with the water guns that contained the holy water. Bonnie could only shake her head as she took one as well. If it made the others feel a bit more at ease then she couldn't complain.

"Are we ready then?" she asked again.

"Yeah!" they all exclaimed.

Finn took point followed by Felicia, Bonnie, Lumpy, Lady and Jake took the rear. Bonnibel felt like they were an army platoon traversing through a dangerous stretch of land to their destination. Finn halted the group as he looked left and right to make sure nothing would jump out at them. Jake mimicked his movements from his end. Satisfied that their trek to the porch would go uninterrupted, he signaled for them to continue moving forward. Reaching the door Finn signaled Felicia and Bonnie to flank him on either side. Shrugging, the two girls did as they were told. Finn stepped up to the door and kicked it open.

"I always wanted to do that!" Finn grinned.

"Umm, I think you dented the door." Felicia shone her light on the white door. "Hey, is it just me or is this door new?"

"Look!" Finn walked through the door. "The floor actually looks pretty shiny, like it was polished or something."

The group followed Finn inside and was surprised to find that he was indeed right. Before, all the dust had been cleaned, but this time it was more than that. They spread out around the foyer once again and looked in all the rooms. All the furniture that had been left behind was gone not only from the foyer, but from the dining room and the living room.

"That wasn't there before was it?" Lady pointed into the living room.

They grouped around the doorway to the living room and pointed their flashlights at the spot over the fire place. It was a portrait of a family.

"Whoa, who are they?" Jake walked further into the room. His friends followed him to get a better look at the portrait.

"Is this the family that used to live here?" Felicia wondered out loud.

The man in the pictured looked to be in his late 20's while the woman looked to be maybe a few years younger than that. Bonnibel looked at the little girl in the picture and thought about the person that been scaring them in the house. They had the same red eyes and dark black hair. Could it be possible that the girl in the picture was the one that was pranking them? That didn't seem to make sense though. It's been forty years since the family lived in this house. She swore the person they saw couldn't be that old.

"I don't remember inviting anyone in."

The teenagers jumped back in fright. Without even thinking about it, they turned around and unleashed their assault of holy water on whom or whatever was behind them.

"Take that evil ghost!" Finn screamed.

"What the hell!" an angry voice screamed. "Freaking kids! Stop it already!"

"Everyone stop!" Bonnie yelled over her friends cries of attack.

Somehow the heard her pleas and stopped their assault. Bonnibel shines her light at the figure that now stood drenched in front of them. The girl looks to be in her early 20's. She glared at them through her soaked hair. Bonnibel gasped. It was her. It was the girl she'd seen the first night! There was no doubt in her mind. She'd never forget those red eyes.

"You kids better have a damned good explanation for trespassing on my property." She snarled at them.

"What? You mean you're not a ghost?" Finn asked nervously.

"Do I look like a fucking ghost to you?"

"Actually you kind of do." Jake answered.

His response was definitely not appreciated by the look on the woman's face. The woman turned around and walked towards the doorway. They keep their lights on her, unsure of what she was doing. The lights in the room suddenly come to life. Unlike the last time they'd been there, the lights did not flicker. With the darkness dispelled, they get a better look at the woman standing before them. Her skin looked to be a bit on the paler side but she certain was no ghost. She angrily wrung her soaked hair trying to get as much water out as possible. Her gray tank top clung to her body and for the life of her, Bonnie can't figure out why she couldn't stop staring at this woman.

"Look, it was fun scaring you guys at first but it's become a nuisance. Why do you keep coming back?"

Her question snapped Bonnibel out of her thoughts. Why had she been staring so much? She hoped the woman hadn't noticed.

"Ah, well, we thought this place was abandoned." Finn answered.

"No one has been here for many years." Bonnie continued. The woman directed her gaze at the pink haired girl. Bonnibel suddenly felt like there was a fluttering in her stomach. "W-with all the ghost stories that involve this place, it's become a place to test your courage. It's what we were doing the first time I met you."

"Cute, but as you can see, it's not abandoned anymore so I'd appreciate it if you kids stopped coming in here like you owned the place."

"Ah, we're very sorry miss…" Felicia began.

"Marceline."

"Miss Marceline, we are very sorry and won't bother you again." Lady apologized as well. "Please don't tell our parents."

Marceline smirked. "Ah, already got in trouble did we?"

"Ah, yeah. " Jake ran a hand through his hair. "We're all grounded for sneaking out here that first night."

"Yeah, so please, we'll do anything you ask! Just don't tell our parents!" Felicia begged. She hated being grounded; she couldn't imagine what her parents would do to make her punishment much worse. They'd probably tell her she couldn't date Finn anymore. That would be one of the worst things her parents could do to her.

Marceline stopped for a moment and thought about what to do with her little trespassers. She smirked. The teenagers did not like the look on the woman's face; however, they were at her mercy. She could easily call the cops if she wanted since this was _her_ property. If she so wished, she could turn them in for breaking and entering.

"Hmm, tell you what. I'll get you all out of being grounded in exchange for you guys helping me clean up this place." Marceline spread her arms out to emphasize the magnitude of the job.

"But we can't." Jake answered. "We just told you we're all grounded meaning we can't go anywhere."

"I know what it means and what I'm saying is I can get your punishments changed. I gotta turn you in to your parents though."

"But that'll just get us into more trouble!" Finn wailed.

"Just trust me."

"We don't even know you." Lady pointed out.

"Well it's either you get stuck being grounded for however long you were given or you help me clean up this place and not be grounded."

"Let's trust her." Bonnie said, surprising everyone including Marceline.

"What!" Lumpy grabbed her friend and shook her. "Are you crazy! She just said she was turning us in!"

"She could've called the cops on us but she didn't! Instead she's offering to get us ungrounded. We don't have a lot of options here guys. We did break and enter into her house."

"We didn't know anyone lived here!" Finn said a bit panicked.

"That won't matter to our parents." Lady admitted. "Plus, if we don't help, she can still tell our parents anyway and we'd get into even more trouble."

"We really have no choice do we?" Felicia groaned.

"So what's it going to be kids?" Marceline smirked at them

Resigning themselves to what Marceline had in store for them, they agreed to be turned into their parents. They just hoped that they made the right choice and not doomed themselves to being grounded for the rest of their lives.

**AN**: So maybe two more chapters for this story. I think I can do two more. Look forward to it. In the meantime, leave a review. It's greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **That took longer than I expected. Not only did I have to do holiday shopping but I caught a cold of some sort. The timing couldn't be worse. I actually got two days off from work this week and now it looks like I'll be stuck in bed on meds. Well, it can't be helped I suppose at least I managed to finish this chapter. Hopefully I'll get over this cold soon so I can get back to writing again.

**update:** In my med filled state, I forgot to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Sorry about that. Thanks to the following people for reviewing:

**MoiTrueDreamWriter, Guerrilla Warfare, Dolphin64575, CrimsonJoy, .panda, Mai-n43, Skire, Unease, Nobody2012, all the Anonymous and Guests reviewers!**

You guys are much appreciated.

Haunted

Mrs. Mertens was surprised to hear someone knocking at her door so late at night. She looked to her husband who was just as confused as she was.

"I wonder who that could be?" Mr. Mertens got up from his seat and went to the door. To his shock, his son stood there with a young woman he'd never seen before.

"Finn?"

"Uh, hi dad."

"Sorry to bother you so late sir," Marceline began. "But I caught your son here trespassing on my property."

Mr. Mertens crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes towards his son who could only look down at his feet.

"Explain yourself."

"Uh, well, me and the guys went back to that haunted house and well, we found out it wasn't so haunted after all."

"Get inside. We'll talk about this later." He then turned to Marceline. "I'm sorry Ms…"

"Marceline."

"Ms. Marceline. I apologize for what my son did. You can be sure he'll be properly punished for this."

Finn looked up at Marceline in fear. He though she was going to take care of whatever punishment his parents would want to impose on him! Marceline smirked slightly seeing him sweat it out like that, but it would be in her best interest to keep her word.

"Actually sir, if I may suggest, would it be alright if I borrowed him for a bit?"

"Borrow?"

"Yeah, I need help cleaning out that old "haunted house" so I can move in."

"Why not hire people for that?" He asked skeptically.

"I'm just a college student sir. I don't have the money to spare for that sort of thing."

"Then how did you afford that house?"

"Inheritance. I hadn't even been aware of it until a few weeks ago. I've been cleaning it on my own so far but it's going to take a very long time if I don't get some help."

"Hmm, I suppose this will teach him a better lesson than simply grounding him for two more weeks. Alright, he can help after he gets out from school. If you need him on weekends you're more thank welcome to use him as well."

"Thank you very much. I expect you tomorrow after school Finn."

Marceline waved good-bye to father and son and turned the group she had left. The nervousness in their faces only made her grin more. Messing with kids was just too much fun.

"Shall we boys and girls?"

The group nodded and led the older girl to each and everyone one of their homes. She asked all their parents to borrow their kids to help clean out her house for trespassing repeatedly on her property. Marceline had to convince them at first, much like she had to with Finn's dad, but in the end she got them to see her way. All the parents agreed that it would be a fitting punishment for going back after they were told not to and they had to admit that it would be better than grounding their children for a longer period of time with whatever additional punishments they would add. At least this way they'd learn a valuable lesson. Marceline was rather pleased with the new helpers she had acquired. Work on the house would hopefully move a bit faster than it currently was. The dark haired girl walked back to her home at a slower pace.

Home…

She scoffed at the thought.

She really couldn't call it a home yet with the way it was. She stood in the yard and looked up at the house. For a long time, Marceline thought that this house was only in the imagination of her ailing mother. It wasn't until she got the call from the lawyers that she discovered that her mother wasn't as delusional as she thought she was. After arriving in the town, she heard of the ghost stories that attached themselves to the house. It made her laugh at first because of how ridiculous it was. After spending one night in the house though, she could see why people thought it was haunted. All the odd noises and tricks of the light would make even the sanest of minds think they saw something that wasn't really there.

Marceline walked into the house and went to the second floor where she'd left her belongings. The house was anything but livable so she'd been staying in a nearby motel while she remodeled the house. It was a greater undertaking than she expected it would be. Even if she had known the extent of the damage, she wouldn't have been able to hire help. Like she told Finn's dad, she was only a college student. She was already tight with money as it was, but she considered herself lucky that her long time guardian was helping her out and paying for the hotel room she was staying in. Whatever money she'd inherited with the house was to be used specifically to restore the decrepit home. Because of this, she took the semester off of school so she could take on this project. Not that she minded doing so. She'd been planning to take a break anyway in order to handle other family matters she'd been avoiding. Marceline sighed and grabbed her backpack. It was time to head back to the motel. She needed to get more sleep. These last few days had been spent getting trashed thrown out and turning the power and water on. She had to admit it was amusing watching the people look at her like she'd gone crazy when she went down to the city offices to get it all sorted out. To think that everyone in this town thought the house was haunted. Chuckling to herself, Marceline locked up.

In her opinion, the only thing haunting the house was bad memories.

"So I guess we go straight there?" Finn questioned his friends after school.

"That's what my mom told me to do. She expects me back in time for dinner so we won't be there that long." Jake answered.

"At least it's nice to know there really isn't anything scary about that house." Felicia was relieved that there really wasn't such a thing as ghosts there. It would make spending time at the house easier. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if she jumped at every noise.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad guys" Bonnibel was rather excited to be helping out the older girl. Why? She had no idea, but she assumed it was because she was going to be making a new friend if all went well.

"Ugh, I'm not built for doing manual labor." Lumpy grumbled. "This is gonna suck."

The teens walked through the gate which, to their surprise, had been repaired. The left side still had its missing letter but at least it wasn't useless anymore.

"Welcome to my humble abode!" Marceline greeted from the porch. She sat in a chair with a bass in her hands, absentmindedly strumming it. "You guys ready to work?"

"Aren't you going to help us?" Finn got a bad feeling about this.

Marceline smiled evilly. "Why do I need to work when I got you guys now?"

To say Marceline was a slave driver wasn't quite accurate but it was pretty darn close. The teenagers couldn't remember the last time they worked so hard. Marceline let them know they'd be working on the yard on this particular day. She had them pull all the weeds from the front yard and dump them into a large trash container she was renting from the city. It looked to be already full of other stuff like old furniture and other trash. Once the weeds had been pulled, she had the boys mow the lawn while the girls raked and bagged all the litter from the leaves from the trees. To finish off the work day, she had them clear all the vines that had grown over the fence along the front.

"Great work guys! I think you deserve a nice break before I set you free."

Marceline opened up a cooler revealing water bottles and sodas for the teenagers. After their long work day, they were more than ready to just sit down and have a nice cool drink and relax. Marceline went back to sitting in her chair while the kids sat around the porch, marveling how different the yard looked now that they'd given it some maintenance.

"Wow, it looks so… welcoming." Lady took a sip of her soda.

"Looks less scary, that's for sure." Lumpy agreed as she examined her nails. It was going to take her ages to get them looking good again.

"So, what have you been up to today?" Finn asked the older girl.

Marceline shrugged. "Nothing much. Dumped more stuff from the house, cleaned a bit more on the first floor. Nothing exciting."

"By yourself?" Jake asked this time.

"Yup."

"So no one's helping you clean this place up?" Finn looked around. He couldn't imagine fixing a house all by himself. "Sounds tough."

"It's not so bad, especially now that I have you guys helping."

"How old are you Marceline?" Bonnibel asked out of the blue.

"24."

"Do you go to school?" Bonnibel asked again.

"College but I'm taking a break right now."

Bonnibel frowned at the older girl. She wanted to have a conversation of some sort with Marceline but the raven haired girl was making it difficult with her closed ended answers. Bonnibel didn't try to ask anything more and instead listened to the conversation her friends were having amongst themselves. Marceline made no attempt to join or initiate any conversation herself. It was a bit disappointing. The teenagers finished their drinks and headed home for dinner.

"See you guys tomorrow at the same time." Marceline waved to them.

"See ya Marceline!" Finn waved as they all left.

Marceline smiled slightly. It was a breath of fresh air to have them around as opposed to being plagued by just her thoughts. With a final strum of her bass, she got up and got ready to leave again. A good amount of work had been completed so she didn't feel the need to stay as long as usual. Getting a decent nights rest, for once, would probably do wonders for her. Eating dinner would probably be good for her too.

The next day came and went. The teenagers were sent to work giving the back yard a makeover like they'd done for the front yard. This time though, Marceline joined in to help them. The back yard was at least twice the size of the front, Marceline did not expect them to finish everything but she hoped they'd get a good chunk cleaned up. She worked them hard like the day before but rewarded them again with drinks and some time to cool off before letting them go home.

"So, Marceline is this house really yours?" Finn was curious about the older girl. He'd never seen her around town and even though he'd only lived there for a few months, he'd realized that pretty much everyone knew each other.

"Yup. All mine thanks to an inheritance."

"Wow, so like, someone died so you could get this place?" Lumpy asked.

"Lumpy, that's not a very nice thing to ask!" Bonnibel admonished her friend. She couldn't believe how callous Lumpy could be sometimes.

"What? I'm just asking." Lumpy huffed.

"That's still not an appropriate thing to ask." Bonnie shook her head.

"Don't worry about it." Marceline took a sip of her water. "She is right after all."

"Umm, I hope it wasn't someone you were close with." Lady said uncertain. Death was always a touchy subject especially if it involved a family member.

"It's no big deal guys. Don't sweat it."

"So, do you play in a band or something?" Jake asked hoping to lighten the mood.

"I use to when I was in high school."

"Whoa, that must've of been pretty cool." Finn openly showed his admiration to the older girl.

Marceline shrugged. "I guess, but we were just a bunch of dumb kids. We didn't get very far with it."

"Still you were able to do something you liked for a short while." Bonnibel wanted to keep Marceline talking. She considered it a good sign that she wasn't just giving them short answers like the day before.

Marceline took a thinking pose.

"You know, you've got a point there Bonnibel. Even if my friends were a bunch of idiots sometimes, we did have a blast making music together."

"What was your bands name?" Felicia asked.

Marceline smirked. "Marceline and the Scream Queens."

Upon further insisting, Marceline gave in and graced them with some stories from her high school days. They hadn't even realized how long they'd been there until Finn got a call from his mother asking where the heck he was. That was their cue to get home before they got into more trouble, if that was even possible.

"See ya tomorrow Marceline!" Jake and Finn waved as they ran down the street.

"See ya brats."

The girls waved their good-byes as well and ran to get home. For whatever reason, Bonnibel felt compelled to look back towards Marceline. The dark haired girl lowered her arm and shook her head. The smile she'd seen them off with fell. She then turned back to look towards the house before sighing and heading back in. Bonnibel wondered what was going through the other girls mind. She always gave the appearance that nothing fazed her but perhaps not everything was well. Her ringing phone brought her out of her thoughts. It was her mother, probably wondering why she wasn't home yet. She answered and quickly ran down the street to get home. Tomorrow, she'd further her efforts to figure out the mystery that was Marceline.

In the days that followed, Marceline had them finish up the backyard before moving on to the interior of the house. They went room by room clearing away garbage, old furniture, and cleaning up everywhere they could. On the weekend, Marceline ordered pizza for them. The kitchen still wasn't completely functional so nothing could be cooked, but the dark haired girl wanted to show them that even though she was working them very hard, she still appreciated everything they were doing for her. During their little breaks, she'd even regale them with more stories from when she was in high school or any adventures she'd had in college.

"And that's how I got kicked out of my dorm." Marceline finished her latest story.

"That doesn't seem very fair considering your old roommate was violating more rules than you were." Lady took a bite of her pizza.

"She was but honestly, I was glad to be out of there. That's the thing about sharing a dorm room; you never know what kind of nutcase you'll get stuck with as a roommate."

"You got her back good at least." Jake gave her a thumbs up.

"That I did. Although, looking back on it now, I feel kind of bad for what I did."

"Why?" Finn was confused. She'd been done wrong and was getting even. What was there to be sorry about?

"Well, I kind of understand how she must've felt. Sharing your living space with someone isn't the easiest thing. You both have to adjust to your quirks and if you're lucky you get someone you're compatible with. If you're unlucky, like me, you get stuck with someone that constantly rubs you the wrong way. You can either find a way to live together without driving each other completely crazy or you do what we did and make each other's lives a living hell. Honestly, the moment I realized it wasn't going to work out I should've petitioned for a change of room. It would've been a long shot but I coulda tried. Maybe even found a place to live off campus, but I didn't. I wasn't mature enough to consider the consequences until much later. Looking back on stuff like that makes me realize how little I knew about the world."

"Do you feel like you know more now?" Felicia was honestly curious about the things Marceline was telling them. It was the first time they knew someone that they could relate to that was older.

"Haha, nope! I still feel like I don't know anything, but I'd like to think I'm a little smarter than when I was 18."

With the last day of their punishment drawing ever closer, Bonnibel began to feel anxious. The only time when she'd talk with Marceline was during their scheduled work time. Would they still be able to hang out even after this all ended? She tried her best not to worry too much, but the more she tried to put it out of her mind, the more she ended up thinking about it.

They continued to work as usual. Not a lot was left and even they were impressed by how amazing the house looked. The fact that they'd help get it to that state with their own hands gave them a sense of accomplishment they'd only felt when passing tests in school or defeating a particularly hard boss in a video game. The feeling though was magnified by the fact that they'd helped someone that they'd come to like and even consider a friend of sorts. The last day of their punishment came far too quickly, especially for Bonnibel. Marceline was standing on the front porch like always. She'd normally greet them before letting them know what project they'd be working on.

"I got a special surprise for you guys today."

"Oh! I like surprises!" Finn hopped on his feet in anticipation.

"You guys don't have to help out today!" Marceline grinned.

"What?" Jake questioned.

"You heard me. You guys have been a lot of help, but there's really nothing left for you guys to do. So I figured I'd surprise you by letting you guys off one day early."

"Alright!" Finn cheered, but quickly tempered his excitement so as to not offend Marceline. "Not that we didn't have fun helping you, but I'm glad to be done."

"Seriously, I've never worked so hard in my life!" Lumpy agreed.

"It was nice hanging out with you though." Jake walked up to Marceline and held out his hand. "You're pretty cool, for a chick."

Marceline took Jake's outstretched hand.

"And you're alright for a brat."

Jake grinned.

"Let's go to my house and play video games!" Finn suggested to his friends.

"Sounds like fun." Jake readily agreed.

"I'd rather go to the mall and shop." Lumpy began to make her way to the gate.

"I hear you there. Feels like forever since I've been there." Felicia followed her friend out.

"Shopping sounds like a blast." Lady turned to her boyfriend. "I think majority wins."

Finn and Jake gagged at the thought of having to spend their afternoon endlessly going to stores as their girlfriends tried on every piece of clothing they could get their hands on.

"Ew, no thanks." Finn ran past the girls. "Come on Jake! To the Finn Cave!"

"Right behind you buddy!"

The teenagers disappeared down the street eager to celebrate their freedom, all except one that is.

"Aren't you going to join them?" Marceline asked the one who remained behind.

Bonnibel walked up to the porch and opened the front door.

"I'd rather be here."

Marceline looked skeptically at the younger girl.

"There's nothing here for you to do."

"I'm sure you can find something for me to help with."

"Why?"

Bonnibel twirled around. Her eyes met Marceline's for the first time since the night the older girl had scared her. She wondered if Marceline's eyes were really that red or if it was the setting sun behind her that brought out the color in them.

"Because I want to spend time with you."

Bonnibel kept eye contact with Marceline, hoping that she wouldn't make her leave the property.

"Fine. Do what you want kid."

Marceline walked past the pink haired girl to begin her work inside. Bonnibel was more than ecstatic with the dark haired girl's response. It was better than she could've hoped for. She followed Marceline inside and up to the second floor. The older girl grabbed a clip board that'd been sitting on a table and began looking through the room before jotting stuff down.

"What are you doing?"

"Making a list of things that need to be repaired in each room."

"Can I help?"

"I guess."

"Well, what do you have written down so far?"

Marceline showed the pink haired girl her list. Together they walked through the second flooring finding all the things that needed to be fixed before it was deemed a safe place to move into. The older girl was surprised how fast she managed to get it done thanks having a second pair of eyes. It didn't hurt that Bonnibel would also point out things she'd missed. If she'd done it on her own, it might've taken her longer considering all she had been doing was standing in the middle of the room and writing down anything obvious like broken floor boards or cracked walls. She hadn't even considered all the water damage that might've seeped down into the first floor through the holes in the ceiling. Marceline's reservations about letting Bonnibel hang around her were slightly alleviated. She still wasn't sure why Bonnibel would want to stay and do work when she could be with her friends, but it felt nice not to be all alone.

"I better head home."

"Umm, thanks for the help Bonnibel."

"No problem. I'm glad you let me help. Maybe you'll let me do it again tomorrow?" the uncertainty in her voice was evident.

Marceline's lips quirked in a crooked smile.

"If you got nothing better to do then I don't see why not."

Without thinking, Bonnibel hugged the older girl.

"Thank you! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Before Marceline could reply, Bonnibel was gone. She tiredly ran a hand through her hair. Why was she allowing this? Was she so lonely that she'd let a kid hang around her? Frustrated because she couldn't answer her own questions, she decided to call it a day. There was no point in stressing about it. She began her walk back to her motel.

The next day, Marceline spent most her morning wondering if Bonnibel would actually turn up after school got out. Maybe the teenager hadn't wanted to go shopping with her friends and used her as an excuse not to go? She tried to keep herself occupied as much as possible which thankfully wasn't difficult to do. She didn't want to admit to herself that she was anxious about the pink haired girl arriving, but she was and she didn't understand why. Her fretting was put to a merciful end when she heard a knock. True to her word, Bonnibel stood on the other side of the door, ready to help out. The pink haired girl came back the next day and the day after that, and even on the weekends.

When it became apparent that Bonnibel had no intentions of stopping her visits, Marceline stopped questioning why. Instead she decided to enjoy the fact she was no longer the only one in the house. Since Marceline didn't really know anyone in the town, nor did she make an effort to, Bonnibel became a sort of friend in the lonely town. The younger girl though wasn't just good company. She was a great help when it came to figuring out which companies to call to get some repairs done. It was indeed very fortunate that the pink haired girl was familiar with a lot of business owners thanks to Bonnibel's parents being friends with them. It never hurt to have inside connections like that. It made her budget easier to manage knowing she wouldn't need to spend all of it on one single thing and perhaps sacrificing things that weren't as vital but that still needed to be taken care of. All in all, Bonnibel had been a godsend Marceline didn't know she needed. It didn't hurt to have someone to talk with either. It hadn't bothered her before but now that she was used to having someone around all the time, Marceline found the silence during the day when Bonnibel was at school the worst.

Marceline found herself purchasing a radio to play during the times the pink haired teenager wasn't around just so the house wouldn't feel so empty. During the weekends the two girls would head into town so that Marceline could shop around for furniture. Even though the house was getting to the point where it was livable, it wouldn't be quite as comfortable without any furniture. Bonnibel helped Marceline pick out things for all the rooms and Marceline even let her decorate one of the bedrooms with the condition that not everything be pink. They returned from their latest shopping trip to wait for the delivery men that were brining over the new furniture.

"Don't you have anything better to do than help me?" Marceline asked out of nowhere. Sure she'd accepted the pink haired girl's presence but that didn't mean the question wouldn't pop up in her mind every now and then.

"Do you not like having me around?"

"I never said that."

"Then why does it matter?"

"Well, why would you help a random stranger? Doesn't make sense from that stand point."

"You're not just some random stranger to me."

"Then what am I to you?"

Bonnibel paused for a second.

"Someone special."

"Pfft."

"I'm serious!"

"That's even worse."

"Why is it bad?"

"You shouldn't be getting attached to someone you know nothing about."

Bonnibel crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from Marceline.

"How can I get to know you when you won't let me? I've tried Marceline and you refuse to talk to me about yourself."

"That's not true. I told you stories about my high school days."

Bonnibel turned around and faced the older girl properly. "That's not what I want to know about you. I want to know about the real Marceline. Not the one that puts up this tough persona to keep people away."

Marceline frowned. "I don't do that."

"Yes you do! Even when we're out in town, you have this look about you that just screams stay away."

"Obviously I don't cause it didn't work on you."

"So you're admitting you do it on purpose."

"Whatever Bonnie."

"Don't whatever me, Marceline. I don't want you to keep pushing me away."

"Trust me. I'm not worth knowing."

"Isn't that something I should decide for myself?"

"That doesn't apply for me."

"Yes it does!"

"Just drop it Bonnie!"

"No!"

"Damn it Bonnie! Nothing good will come of getting to know me!"

"Then why do you let me be around you!"

"I'm just putting up with you okay!"

Bonnibel looked wide-eyed at the girl's revelation. All this time, she was just a nuisance to the older girl. She hadn't seen her as anything more than that. Not even a friend. Her hands tightened into fists as she stood up and ran. She thought that she'd heard Marceline calling after her, but she figured it was just her mind playing tricks on her; making her think that the dark haired girl had changed her mind. She ran as fast as she could back home, to the safety of her room. Bonnibel was grateful for once that the weekend was over. She could return to school, go back to what her life use to be before Marceline entered it, but it wasn't that simple.

"Are you okay?" Lady finally asked the pink haired girl. She and the rest of her friends were worried about Bonnibel's odd behavior. They'd come back from the weekend and they couldn't help but notice that she seemed really down. This was usually the opposite of how she'd be when returning from the weekend. They'd inevitably hear about what she and Marceline did to improve the house or how they'd gone into town to do shopping.

At first they'd found it really weird that Bonnibel wanted to continue helping out the older girl, but didn't question it. They though she was just being really nice which wasn't unnatural. Bonnibel loved to help others. She was just that type of person. So they couldn't help but notice her downcast expression when they'd asked her how her weekend with Marceline went this time. That had been on Monday and the weekend was upon them once more but Bonnibel had yet to cheer up.

"I'm fine." Bonnibel tried to smile but her smile just didn't reach her eyes.

"You know you can talk to us about it." Felicia joined them at the lunch table with Finn and Lumpy.

"I'll be fine guys really."

"Does this have to do with Marceline?" Finn asked bluntly.

They were sure it did once her smile completely fell.

"What did she do!" Jake exclaimed. "If she did something to you we'll teach her a lesson!"

"Did she say something to you?" Lady pried. She wanted to help her friend somehow.

Bonnibel shook her head. "I just thought we'd become friends, but it was my mistake."

The others looked skeptically at each other but decided to drop the subject. It was not helping their friend and the last thing they wanted to do was make her feel worse. Instead they decided the best way to cheer her up was by going out and doing stuff together. It'd been awhile since they done something as a group since Bonnibel had been using her spare time to spend it with Marceline. After a quick vote they agreed that seeing a movie would be the way to go.

Bonnibel returned home that day, feeling a bit better. She appreciated everything her friends did for her. It made her feel bad that she was worrying them so much though. She couldn't continue feeling bad about what had happened between her and Marceline. The older girl had made it pretty clear that her presence wasn't wanted so there was nothing more to think about. Besides she had other friends that did appreciate her and wanted her around so why did this rejection hurt her more than it should? She'd only known Marceline for a few weeks yet to be affected this much by her…she didn't understand why.

Marceline was such a mysterious person. In all the time they'd spent together, Bonnibel got very little background about her. Sure she knew that in high school she was quite the trouble maker and the names of her friends whom she'd created a band with, but she knew there was more to the older girl than that. Bonnibel wanted to know who she really was. What was her family like? Did she have siblings? Where was the town she grew up in? Where did she go to school? What was she majoring in? What were her dreams? Her goals? Bonnibel didn't even know what Marceline's last name was. What was Marceline hiding and why? She'd never get any of these questions answered now. She didn't have the courage to face the older girl again. She'd resigned herself to just letting things end as they had and perhaps forgetting about her someday.

The pink haired girl flopped onto her bed, intent on falling asleep when she heard a clink. Confused, she sat up and listened again. A second later she heard it again. Bonnibel sat up and looked around her room looking for the source. The third clink led her to the window. Was someone out there?

She pulled the curtains back and to her shock, Marceline stood in her yard, poised to throw another rock at the window. Marceline let her arm drop and the rock fall to the ground. The two looked awkwardly at each other unsure of what do to or say. Marceline made the first move and walked up to the house. Bonnibel had a wooden trellis going up to the second floor where her room resided making it easy to get up to the window. The pink haired girl reluctantly opened the window for her.

"Umm, hey." Marceline said nervously for once. There was no trace of her usual teasing tone. Bonnibel said nothing and instead just looked at the older girl with a blank face. This was not very encouraging. "Uh, I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I'd come see why you haven't come over lately…."

Bonnibel took a deep breath. She was asking why? After what she'd said? She couldn't take it! Bonnibel was about to slam her window shut but Marceline grabbed her writs, keeping her from doing so.

"Let me go." Bonnibel whispered harshly as she tried to pry her wrists out of Marceline's grasp.

"Not until you hear me out." Marceline said just as harshly.

"There's nothing left to say. You made it perfectly clear that you don't want me around."

"No. I didn't. Please, just hear me out and if you don't want to see me anymore after this then I won't come back."

Bonnibel stopped struggling. Marceline hoped this meant it was okay for her to continue.

"I'm….sorry, for what I said. I wasn't just putting up with you. I like having you around."

"Then why won't you let me get to know you?"

Marceline hesitated. There was a reason she only introduced herself as Marceline. Her last name was actually very well-known thanks to her father and once others found out who she was, they'd stay away from her. She'd lost many people in her life because of what her father did. She'd thought about changing her last name many times, but in the end she chose to keep it. She didn't think she could live her life constantly hiding her families past. It was enough of a burden as it was that adding something else on top of it was just too stressful for her. So she'd resolved keep her last name even if it brought nothing but problems, but this also ensured that she could keep people away whom she didn't want around her even if she ran the risk of scaring off those she did like.

"Abadeer."

"What?"

"My last name. If you want to know why I didn't want you to know me, look up it up online." Marceline went silent for a moment. "I wouldn't mind having you as a friend and if you decide that you don't mind either then, you know where to find me."

Marceline said no more and began to climb down the trellis. She hoped she'd done the right thing. Out of the many people she'd met, Bonnibel affected her in ways she hadn't expected. After Bonnibel had run home that day, Marceline had stood on her porch watching, waiting for her to return, but she didn't. The dark haired girl went back to the house on Monday and tried her best to get things done. The furniture she'd wanted had been delivered the day before but she hadn't felt like arranging it. Why? Because it was the stuff they'd picked out for the room she let Bonnibel decorate. Instead, Marceline avoided the room for the majority of the week and concentrated on the rest of the house, but she'd find herself stopping and just staring absently into space. The house didn't feel right without the pink haired girl around. She didn't feel right. With the entire week having gone by without her doing anything productive, Marceline decided to suck it up and apologize for her careless words. If there was a chance that Bonnibel really would accept her for who she was then she'd give her the chance to prove it. Then maybe she'd be able to return to work on the house instead of agonizing over whether she should seek out Bonnibel.

It was now up to the pink haired girl to decide whether she still wanted to be friends with Marceline.

**AN:** I'm going to end it there. I still had enough to write another five pages, maybe more but I think I'll use that Material for the final chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and are looking forward to the last chapter. I know many of you wanted this to be longer but perhaps I'll come up with another story that will fill your needs. Until then though, please review and what not. It's much appreciated when you do.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** So remember when I said this was the last chapter? I changed my mind. I have enough for one more. In the meantime though, I hope you enjoy this second to last chapter. Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing thus far. It's good to know that you guys like what I'm doing with this pairing.

Haunted

_Hunson Abadeer, age 32, was arrested in his home by authorities on federal indictments after a three year investigation. Abadeer had long been suspected of running the crime family once ruled by Martin Ambrosi, but the lack of evidence against him prevented police from making an arrest. Abadeer made himself known as one of the most fearsome leaders in the crime world with his brutal treatment of enemies. His quickness to use violence against those around him caused wide spread fear around those who worked for him, allowing him to retain power within the organization._

_Rumors that his position was passed on to him directly from Ambrosi had long been speculated when it was revealed that Abadeer married Ambrosi's only daughter, however, this proved to be merely a coincidence. It did help his cause when he finally did take over the organization since many still remained loyal to Ambrosi and his family. Ambrosi, at the age of 80, remains in prison to this day. _

_Authorities hailed Abadeer's arrest as the final nail in the coffin for the crime family, although many had heard the same things when Ambrosi was arrested decades ago. Questions have been raised whether Abadeer's daughter might fill the vacuum of power left in the wake of her father's arrest, fearing a repeat of what occurred with Ambrosi's daughter. Authorities however, assure the public there is no danger of that happening. Abadeer's daughter, who shall not be named due to being a minor, has been placed in foster care with neighbors who often provided sitting services for the family when Abadeer was away. When asked if they knew what Abadeer's true job was, they stated that they had no idea he was running a crime organization._

"_We thought he was away a lot because he ran a small business. I would have never thought he was doing something so horrible." Simon Petrikov responded._

_He and his sister Natasha Petrikov, will be petitioning for full custody of Abadeer's daughter as soon as possible._

_Abadeer is expected to face charges of racketeering, extortion, arson, conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking, and illegal gambling._

Bonnibel closed her laptop in shock. Marceline was the daughter of the infamous Hunson Abadeer. Not only that, but her grandfather had been the equally infamous Ambrosi who'd built the house she'd inherited. It was all too much to take in at once. She walked to her window and looked out towards the house. She could still see lights on even though it was rather late.

"_She shouldn't be up so late."_ She thought to herself, but then again, she should be sleeping by now too. With all this new information however, she couldn't just go to sleep. She needed to know more. With all the ghost stories she'd heard about the house, you would think she'd do some actual research about it to get some truth from all the fiction, but she never had. No one ever had tried to find out the truth. Perhaps with how small the town was, they'd rather forget such a terrible thing and were content to let the house and any memories attached to it, fade away into obscurity or in this case, turn into a ghost story. She could only imagine how it must've been back then; the circus of news vans and federal agents invading the town and disappearing just as quickly once they'd gotten what they wanted. It sure wasn't something her little town was happy to handle.

The pink haired girl closed her window. She quickly walked back to her desk and opened up her laptop once again. She had a lot of reading to do and not a lot of time to do it.

**xxx**

"You don't look so good Bonnie." Lady sat down next to a nearly comatose Bonnibel. "Is everything alright?"

When no answer came, Lady gently nudged the girl and nearly screamed when Bonnibel suddenly sat up. Lady held her hands to her heart; she hoped she wasn't actually having a heart attack.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Bonnibel apologized to her frightened friend. "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep at all last night."

After reading article after article on everything she could, Bonnibel finally had an idea of what kind of life Marceline had been living before her father was arrested. If her math was right, which it always was, the dark haired girl had only been nine years old when her father got arrested. Ironic really, considering the horrible events that happened in the house occurred when Marceline's mom was only nine as well. Marceline's case though wasn't as bad as her mother's, however, that didn't mean that the event was any less traumatizing for Marceline. Bonnibel was certain that it must've been a hard thing to witness at that age and an even harder thing to comprehend.

Now though, she needed to decide what to do. Marceline had left it completely up to her to whether she wanted to continue to pursue their odd friendship. Even with everything she'd learned, Bonnibel had no doubt in her mind that she wanted to continue to be the dark haired girl's friend. It wasn't Marceline's fault that her father was a criminal, just like it wasn't her fault her grandfather was one as well. It's impossible to choose who our families are and it's certainly impossible to control their actions, but we can freely choose our friends and Bonnibel wasn't going to be like the other people in Marceline's life and abandon her. She just hoped that Marceline would be willing to accept her into her life.

School was the least of Bonnibel's worries as she nervously waited for the clock to release her from her prison. The last bell rang, signaling their freedom from school. She waited for no one and left as fast as she could. Bonnibel found Marceline sitting on her porch, absently strumming her bass. The older girl gave no indication that she noticed Bonnibel enter her property. This didn't discourage the pink haired girl. She pulled up an empty chair and sat next to her. Marceline strummed one last note before falling silent. Bonnibel assumed this as her cue to say what she wanted.

"How was your day?" that hadn't been what she'd wanted to say, but how was she supposed to bring up the subject that Marceline was clearly uncomfortable about?

Marceline shrugged. "Same as always." She responded in her casual manner.

"You were up late last night."

"Figured I should get something done." Marceline didn't mention how she'd been up late due to the fact her nerves would not let her sleep. She hadn't even been able to leave the house that night. She'd tried to but she'd felt so tired. It was her first time ever staying in the house overnight and, quite frankly, it'd been unnerving. Maybe it was because she was alone in such a big place or perhaps the stupid ghost stories had finally gotten to her, but whatever the reason it made her stay awake all night. Instead she'd turned on all the lights in the house and stared blankly at the ceiling in one of the rooms. Nothing like silence to bring forth every unpleasant thought in your mind. She'd never been so happy to see the sunrise, but that only lasted for a moment. The new day reminded her that Bonnibel more than likely knew about her and her families past.

Bonnibel was a smart girl. Marceline would be the first to admit that. She expected the pink haired girl to look up all the information she could as soon as she could. What she hadn't expected was for the younger girl to be back so soon and judging from the bags under her eyes, she'd gotten about as much sleep as she did.

"Go ahead Bonnie. Ask whatever you want to. I promise I'll answer honestly."

"Alright…." Bonnibel said hesitantly. "Is your father really Hunson Abadeer?"

"The one and only." Marceline confirmed, but there was no pride in her words.

"And your grandfather was… in the same business as your father?"

Marceline's laugh was hollow. "I guess business is the nice way to put it." she leaned her guitar against the porch railing and folded her arms over her chest. "I inherited this place from gramps. He passed away not too long ago. I never met him, but I knew of him."

"If you inherited this house from him why is no one helping you fix it up?"

"I have no family to speak of. I'm an only child. You already know where my dad is and mom passed away a while ago."

"Oh… I'm sorry…. I didn't mean to…."

"It's alright. You didn't know." Marceline took a deep breathe. "It's been a long time anyway. I was only six when it happened. Dad did his best with me but he had bigger things to worry about. Not that it mattered I guess seeing as he got arrest just three years later."

Bonnie played with the ends of her hair nervously. She had a feeling she was treading into territory that almost no one had before. In a way, it made her feel special to think that Marceline was opening up to her as much as she was. The older girl was laying herself bare to her, no more hiding behind the wall she'd built to protect herself.

"Do you resent him for that?"

Marceline was silent. Thinking about if she truly did or not. When she was younger, she didn't hesitate to tell people how much she hated her father, but it wasn't for the reasons one might have thought. Marceline hated him for leaving her alone. She'd learned very young that life was hardly ever fair. She thought it couldn't get any worse than her mother dying but she'd been wrong. Being left alone in the world had been hell. Those uncertain days in the orphanage taught her what being alone in the world felt like. She'd gone from having everything in life to nothing in the blink of an eye. She was alone with no one to turn to. No one to tell her it was going to be okay. What was there to look forward to in life? What was left for her? When Simon Petrikov finally managed to adopt her, she'd cried because she didn't feel like her life was so hopeless after all, however it hadn't been easy to grow up carrying the name of her father.

As a child, it'd been difficult for her to socialize with her peers. With the infamy that her last name carried, she was turned into an outcast. Friends became scarce and hard to keep. Parents were afraid to let their children associate with her, leaving her even further isolated during her childhood.

By far though, her teenage years had been the worst. Now those very kids she'd grown up and tried to befriend became bullies that tormented her every chance they got. Shunning her even further from society because they were too simple minded to see that she and her father were not the same person. That she wasn't the monster their parents had once told them she was to keep them away from her. The only saving grace in her life was the people that'd adopted her. Simon and Natasha were more than just her guardians, they were also her friends. They made her feel safe when she was scared, loved when everyone else rejected her, and they gave her the most important thing she'd lost: a family.

"No. I don't resent him."

"Really?" Bonnibel couldn't hide the surprise in her voice.

"Really." Marceline smiled sadly. "I know it seems odd, but I don't anymore."

"Why?"

"I look at life like a game of poker. Sometimes life deals you a great hand and you have everything you could ever hope for to win, but for some people, they get dealt a shitty hand and they have to make the best of it because there is no do over in this game. You're all in because that's the only bet you have to play with and sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Whatever hand Dad got dealt must've been crap. It lead him to a life of crime and death; same with gramps. The same thing could be said with Mom."

"What happen that day in this house?"

"It was a mob hit. Some other guy wanted gramps out of the way and ordered the hit, but obviously that didn't go the way they'd planned. Grandma got killed along with a lot of the help they had around here. Gramps got out alive but got arrested and Mom ending up in foster care. She eventually struck out on her own and married my dad the first chance she got. She knew what kind of life he was already into, but she didn't care. She knew what was in store for her and she was fine with it."

"How did she die, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I did say you could ask whatever you want and I'll keep my word to answer you honestly." Marceline smiled slightly at the pink haired girl.

"You don't have to answer if you're not comfortable. The fact you're even telling me all this right now is enough."

Marceline shook her head. "I think it would be good for me to talk about it. I've never really opened up to anyone about this. To answer your question though, mom died of some form of cancer. Couldn't tell you what though and I never asked."

"I read a news article about your dad's arrest. It said you were adopted by someone. Your neighbor if I remember correctly. Did he end up adopting you?"

Marceline's lips quirked into a fond smile, the first Bonnibel had seen from the girl.

"Yeah that crazy old man and his equally crazy sister adopted me."

"Do you still see them?"

"I do. They're the ones funding this little trip of mine."

"Really? I always thought the inheritance you got was funding this."

Marceline shook her head. "It's funding the repairs to the house. Gramps made a lot of money in his day. Not all of it was through illegal means. The money he'd managed to keep after his trial was done and over with was put in a trust fund for mom. Once she found out she had the big C, she talked to gramp's lawyer and the will was changed so that I'd get everything. Mom left me a little bit of money as well, but I'm putting all that towards school cause that sure ain't cheap. Anyway, Simon and Natasha have been good to me. They are the family I thought I'd never have."

"Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Ask away."

Marceline was shocked when Bonnibel suddenly hugged her.

"What are you…."

"Can we still be friends?"

"Huh?"

"I know you said that it was up to me to decide if we could be friends, but it shouldn't be my decision alone. I know I want to be your friend but do you still want to be mine or have you changed your mind?"

Marceline chuckled. Bonnibel squeaked in surprise when Marceline pulled her down onto her lap.

"M-Marceline?" Bonnibel could feel her heart beat going at an abnormal speed.

"You're a weird one Bonnie."

Bonnibel forgot for a moment about the awkward position she was in and instead huffed in indignation. After their heartfelt conversation, Marceline goes and calls her weird?

"But, I wouldn't mind having someone like you as my friend."

**xxx**

They'd fallen back into their old routine almost immediately. Bonnibel would come over again after school so she could help the older girl with her repairs to the house. The pink haired girl also finally got to work on the room Marceline let her decorate. Picking out the color of the room had been a pain because the dark haired girl fought her tooth and nail to keep her from coloring it completely in pink. Instead she settled on a shade of red that reminded her of Marceline's eyes. Marceline had of course approved whole heartedly with the color, but she would've been happy with anything as long it wasn't pink. It wasn't that she completely hated the color, but the room would've clashed with the rest of the house. Bonnibel may not have gotten her pink room, but she was allowed to paint the edging around the room the pink color she'd wanted. She made sure to pick a lighter shade just so it wouldn't clash with the red of the room. Bonnibel had never had so much fun painting. She'd never had so much fun doing work in general. Somehow, when she was with Marceline, it didn't feel like work at all. It just felt nice to be around her.

"Are you going over there again?" Lumpy glared at her friend.

"Going where?" Bonnibel asked slightly confused. She'd been getting some things from her locker when she'd suddenly been ambushed by Lumpy. She looked less than amused at Bonnibel's question.

"You know where! To Marceline's of course!" Lumpy threw her hands in the air for dramatic effect. "Where else have you been going for these last couple months? We don't even get to see you anymore! What the lump is up with that!"

"But we went to the movies together that one time." Bonnibel hadn't even realized that she'd been going to Marceline's for that long, much less ignoring her friends. It couldn't have been **that** long since she'd hung out with them. She closed her locker and began walking towards the nearest exit. Lumpy did not hesitate to follow her.

"We went to the movies like a month ago!" Lumpy continued her tirade. "Since then we only see you at school and even when you're here with us you're glued to your phone! Is Marceline so much more important than us?"

Lumpy would have continued her verbal assault on Bonnibel had Felicia and Lady not shown up and held back the clearly irritated girl.

"What Lumpy is trying to say, in her own special way, is that we miss you Bonnie." Lady smiled sadly. "We use to always go to each other's houses, have sleep overs, and you'd help us with homework if we'd ever had a problem, but things have changed since we've met Marceline."

"Yeah," Felicia nodded in agreement. "Now you're always at Marceline's. We never hang out anymore. All your time is for her now. What's going on Bonnie? Do you not want to be our friend anymore?"

She stopped walking. Bonnibel was flabbergasted. In her pursuit of Marceline's friendship, she'd carelessly pushed away the people she'd been friends with long before Marceline came into her life. It hadn't been her intention to do so, but it was because she'd put so much effort into gaining Marceline's trust that she was able to finally gain her friendship, but that was no excuse for the way she'd been ignoring them.

"I… I didn't mean to push you guys aside like that."

"Then why is Marceline suddenly more important than us!" Lumpy demanded to know.

"I can't explain it." Bonnibel looked down at the floor.

"What do you mean you can't explain it!" Lumpy pushed Lady and Felicia aside. "If you're going to ignore me then you better have a damn good reason for it!"

The pink haired girl was at a loss. Even now, she still didn't understand why it was that she was so drawn to the dark haired girl. What was the reason she wanted to be by Marceline's side so much that she was ignoring her friends?

"Bonnie, do you maybe… like Marceline?" Lady asked.

"Eh?" Bonnibel felt an unexplainable heat traveling up her neck. She took a few steps back from the three girls who were slowly advancing on her. "W-what do you mean by like?"

Lady took a step forward.

"Just what it sounds like. Do you like Marceline?"

Bonnibel took another step back.

"Of course I like her. It's why I wanted to be her friend."

Felicia joined Lady's side. This only caused Bonnibel to take another step back.

"That's not what she meant and you know it."

Bonnibel felt her back hit a cold wall. Her friends had her surrounded with no way to escape the situation.

"Do you like-like her?" the three asked at the same time.

"I-I don't know." Bonnibel answered honestly. She didn't know if what she felt towards Marceline was mere friendship or if it meant more, but she hadn't dwelled on it much. She was just content for the moment to still be part of her life. Did that mean that she wanted more? Could she be content with just this friendship?

Her three friends sighed.

"Geez, what a letdown." Lumpy placed her hands behind her head, looing off to the side. "And here I thought there was finally something exciting going on in your nonexistent love life."

"I have to agree with Lumpy for once." Lady crossed her arms over her chest. "I seriously thought you'd finally started dating someone too."

"What! Why would you think that?"

"Because you've spent every waking moment you can with Marceline." Felicia said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What else were we suppose to think?"

"That I was just hanging out with her!" Bonnibel couldn't believe her friends thought she and Marceline were a couple.

"Whatever." Lumpy flipped her hair to the side. "If you're not dating her then you should be okay not hanging out with her 24/7. Like come shopping with us."

Lumpy pulled at Bonnibel's arm, trying to lead her towards the bus that would take them to her desired destination. The pink haired girl resisted though, instead trying to go towards the direction to Marceline's house. Her fight was becoming futile when Lady joined in the pulling.

"Guys, I really need to get to Marceline's. She'll worry if I don't show up."

"Are you sure you guys aren't dating? Because what you just said really doesn't help your case." Felicia grinned at Bonnibel.

"I have a better idea!" Lady stopped tugging at Bonnibel. "How about we invite Marceline?"

"Oh! That would be perfect! Let's go to Marceline's!" Felicia began tugging Bonnibel in the opposite direction with the help of Lumpy.

"Whatever! Let's just go get her so we can get to the mall!" Lumpy tugged at the pink haired girl harder. She just wanted to hang out with her friends and if the only way that was going to happen was to get Marceline then the quicker they did it the better.

"But…" Bonnibel attempted to protest their plan.

"No buts! Just walk faster!" Lumpy huffed.

Resigning herself to her fate, Bonnibel allowed herself to be taken to Marceline's house. As they got closer to the not so haunted house, Bonnie was surprised to see that there was an unfamiliar car in the driveway. For as long as she'd been around, she'd never once seen anyone visit the dark haired girl. Who was visiting Marceline?

"Get out!"

The four girls were startled by the sudden scream. They remained safely behind the gate so they could watch the scene unfold before them. A boy, with three white Mohawk-like wisps of hair was tossed from the porch. He landed on his back with a thud. He didn't strain to get up and instead rolled on the ground in pain. Marceline jumped from the porch, standing a few feet away from the stranger.

"B-but baby!"

"Don't call me that!" In a few short steps, Marceline was beside the boy. She kicked him for good measure. "I don't know how you found me or why. All I want is for you to get the hell out of my sight and never come back! Now leave before I call the cops!"

The boy did not want to wait to find out if Marceline would go through with her threat or do something worse to him. Scrambling to his feet, he ran to his car. Marceline glared at him the entire way until he peeled out of her driveway.

"Marceline?"

The dark haired girl looked over at the gate. She hadn't even noticed she had other visitors.

"Bonnie? Ah, how long have you been there?"

"We saw you like toss that guy off you're porch." Lumpy answered.

"Oh."

"Who was he?" Bonnibel and her friends walked through the gate and up to the older girl.

"No one important. Just an unwanted visitor. Anyway, I wasn't expecting so much company today. What's the occasion?"

"We're here to invite you to the mall with us." Lady answered.

"Why invite me?"

"Well, you see," Felicia jumped in. "I don't know if you're aware of this, but you've stolen our friend."

Marceline looked confused at the teenagers. "I have?"

"Like yeah! We haven't seen Bonnie in like over a month!"

"Didn't you guys go to the movies not too long ago?" Marceline had recalled Bonnibel saying something about it after they'd made up and officially became friends.

"That was the last time we hung out with her." Lumpy rolled her eyes. "Bonnie thought the same thing when we pointed it out."

"Are you **really** sure you guys aren't dating?" Felicia boldly asked.

"Felicia!" Bonnibel admonished her friend. How could she bring that up in front of Marceline?

"Dating?" Marceline smirked at Bonnibel who was turning redder by the second. "Bonnie you haven't told them yet?"

"W-what?" the pink haired girl was at a loss for words. What did Marceline think she was doing?

Instead of answering her question, Marceline walked up to the stunned pink haired girl and caressed her cheek; her smirk was still firmly in place. Part of her still functioning mind told her that Marceline looked incredibly attractive with that smirk on her lips. Was she going crazy? The possibility was not completely farfetched.

"You shouldn't hide things from your friends Bonnibel." Purred the dark haired girl.

"Oh my glob!" Lumpy hugged the stilled stunned girl. "We **were** right!"

"This is so exciting!" Lady joined in the hug.

"You're **actually **dating someone!" Felicia toppled her three friends over with her inclusion in the hug.

Marceline couldn't keep her laughter in after seeing how the girls reacted.

"Haha, you guys are far too easy to fool."

"What!" the four sat up from their spots on the ground.

"I was just kidding. Geez, I don't think Bonnie's that hard up for a date."

"Pfft. I'd say she is." Lumpy dusted herself off as she stood. "Bonnie's never dated anyone in her entire life!"

Marceline looked towards Bonnibel with a thoughtful expression.

"Really? Pretty girl like you can't get a date?"

"It's because no one's ever impressed her." Felicia said with a sigh. "She's been asked before but she's never said yes to anyone."

"It's really infuriating sometimes." Lady agreed with her friends. "It's not like she's not popular, but she just isn't interested. Then you came along and we thought she'd finally found someone who grabbed her attention."

"Ah, I see. You have a picky one on your hands." Marceline chuckled. "Well sorry to disappoint you all then. We're just friends."

"Well, it was exciting while it lasted. So are you coming with us or no?" Lady questioned.

"I suppose I can. I don't get out much after all." Marceline held out a hand to help Bonnibel up. "Ready to go, Bonnie?"

"Are you still going to make fun of me?" she asked as she took Marceline's helpful hand.

"Depends. If your reactions continue to be entertaining I can't promise I won't."

Bonnibel sighed. It was going to be an entertaining trip to the mall alright, but not for her.

**xxx**

Marceline arrived back home after a long evening with the four girls. She had to admit, it had been a lot more fun than she would've thought. Being that she wasn't one to socialize with others very often, especially with ones who were so much younger than her, it was nice to know that she could stand being around others. It probably helped that Bonnibel was around. She'd found that she didn't mind being around others as long as Bonnibel was around. She'd never willingly go out just to look around shops unless it was absolutely necessary for her. She just preferred to be by herself or with Bonnibel. Otherwise she always found that she attracted unwanted attention. Mainly from those who though they stood a chance with her. Thinking about stuff like that reminded her of the visitor she had earlier that day. Her good mood took an immediate down turn.

Ash.

She'd thought she'd seen the last of him after she'd graduated high school. As much as she hated to admit she was ever involved with someone like him, she couldn't deny the facts. For a **very** short while, she dated that excuse for a human being. Simon and Natasha had never approved of him but she'd been in her rebellious stage and them telling her no only made her want to disobey even more. So she had and found out the hard way what dating a jerk was like. She ended it almost as soon as it began. This experience however was not lost on her. It opened up her eyes to not only the fact that the dating world could suck, but that she didn't particularly enjoy the attention of the male species. After graduating high school, she left the town she'd grown up in so she could attend college. There she began to find herself and spread her wings, in a manner of speaking. She came to accept that she liked those of her gender. Was she shocked? Perhaps at first but a visit home to talk to Simon and Natasha eased her mind. They assured her that they didn't care who it was she was attracted to. All they cared about was her happiness.

"I really need to pay those two a visit again soon."

Her mind eventually drifted back to what happened with Bonnibel and her friends. It had been fun to pick on her in front of her friends, but during their adventure at the mall, she couldn't stop herself from looking at the pink haired girl. Really looking at her. After all the time they'd spent together, she'd never noticed subtle things about her. Like the way her eyes twinkled when she laughed or the way her hair wasn't completely straight but was kind of wavy near the tips. Or how her blush was actually rather cute….

"Oh god…. What's wrong with me?" Marceline landed face first on her brand new couch in the living room.

She couldn't be having these thoughts about Bonnibel. She just couldn't.

"What are you doing to me Bonnie?"

**AN: **Yeah, I have a thing for making those in Marceline's family criminals. I need to change that up for whatever story I decide to do next. It'll be good to try something new. It keeps things interesting. Until then, reviews are appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** It's the last chapter! Another Bonnie and Marcy story is complete. Thank you to everyone who showed interest in this couple and I promise I'll continue to try to come up with decent stuff for them. Not to mention completing the other stories I've yet to update. I did my best to proof read this while sick so if there is any glaring mistakes please let me know. Enjoy the final chapter!

Haunted

"I'm not stalling." Marceline sighed into her phone.

"_All I'm hearing is excuses from you."_

Marceline ran a hand down her face in frustration. Partly because arguing with Natasha Petrikov was always frustrating and partly because this time, Natasha was right. She was just giving her excuses for why the house hadn't been put on sale yet. Hell, she'd practically moved into the house already. She'd stopped staying at the motel and therefore, Natasha and Simon were no longer being charged for her room which raised their suspicions. They thought for sure this meant Marceline would be returning back to school soon, but instead they were left waiting to hear any news. Eventually Natasha started calling to ask what the progress was and every time, Marceline would give a reason why the house wasn't ready. The painting wasn't done, pipe work was still needed, the yard still wasn't finished, any little thing that she could think of became a reason not to put the house on the market.

"They're not excuses."

"_I don't know. The house looks done from where I'm sitting."_

Marceline sat up quickly from the couch she had been laying on. Dizziness hit her soon after making her lay back down.

"Don't tell me you're outside."

"_I've been sitting on your porch since this conversation began. Now get out here. We have more to talk about."_

Resigning herself to whatever talk Natasha had in store for her, she sat up and made her way outside. Sure enough, just as she'd said, Natasha was sitting on the porch with Simon at her side. Natasha's snow white hair blew slightly in the wind, making Marceline wonder if it had always been that white. Both she and Simon were old; almost in their 70's and yet they'd taken it upon themselves to raise a brat like her. Marceline couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Hey, you two."

Natasha stood up from her seat turning to face the dark haired girl. A small smile also adorned her face. Simon stood up moments later. Standing next to each other like that, the two looked almost identical. Simon was actually the older of the two but it was hard to tell sometimes. Natasha was the more responsible of the duo and just a bit more serious. Simon on the other hand, was more carefree and at times childlike; more so when she was little. He was the one who played with Marceline when she was younger, coming up with stories about a make believe place called Ooo that was inhabited by many strange and fun creatures. They'd even dress up as the characters of their choice and had adventures in the backyard of the sibling's home.

"So are you going to explain yourself?" Natasha broke Marceline out of her thoughts.

Marceline sighed. She wasn't sure how she was getting out of explaining why she was delaying the inevitable.

"I'm just trying to make sure the house is perfect."

Natasha eyed her critically, clearly not believing a word Marceline was saying.

"Don't be so hard on her." Simon spoke up. "I'm sure she has her reasons."

Natasha frowned at her brother. Simon always did have a soft spot for Marceline; they both did, but someone had to put their foot down. Marceline needed to get rid of this house so she could move on with her life. This inheritance she received was the last thing from her past that was weighing her down. Not to mention the money she'd get from selling it would help further her education and, if managed correctly, she could have a nice fund for when she finally did graduate to open up her own business should she desire to.

"Why don't we have a look around and see then. Show me what else still needs to be done."

Marceline grimaced but nodded. There was no way she was going to get anything past Natasha. She ushered her guardians into the house. Pulling out her phone, she quickly sent a message to Bonnibel. As much as she'd love to see the younger girl, there was no way she could with the company she had. She had no doubt they'd both realize what it was that was holding her back if they were to meet Bonnibel.

**xxx**

Bonnibel pulled out her phone after one of her classes ended. She'd seen it was from Marceline but the good student in her prevented her from checking it during her lesson. She read through the short message with a small frown. Marceline had said she couldn't go over because she had company to entertain. Bonnibel couldn't help but think how odd it was. Marceline never had company. With the exception of that guy she kicked out once, no one else had visited the girl. Not that she was trying to say that Marceline didn't possibly have any friends outside of her, but who could she be with? The bell for their next class rang soon after, making her run down the hall before she was late. For the rest of the school day, she was left to wonder who it was that Marceline was with.

**xxx**

"The house looks perfectly fine to me." Natasha took a sip of her coffee. The trio decided to get something to eat after the tour of the entire property. Marceline recalled a café Bonnibel took her to once and suggested they eat there since it was a nice day out. "So, brat, what's really keeping you from selling the house?"

Marceline opened her mouth to answer but Natasha cut her off.

"I don't want another excuse." Natasha's face softened. Whatever was bothering the dark haired girl must have been serious. Perhaps she was starting to feel attached to the house seeing as it was the last thing her family gave her. It wouldn't be surprising if that was the case. "Just be honest with me. I won't get mad."

Marceline looked down at her soda and wondered if she should reveal why it was that she was hesitating. She'd barely admitted to herself recently why that reason was. During her internal turmoil, she casually glanced off to the side only to catch a glimpse of pink hair.

"Bonnie?" She hadn't meant to call out, but the moment she saw that familiar pink hair she couldn't stop herself from doing so.

"Marcy?"

Natasha's eyebrows rose in surprise. Marceline made a friend? Not only that but she actually allowed her to call her by a nickname? That wasn't like the dark haired girl at all. Even her ex-boyfriend hadn't been allowed to give her a pet name. She hated pet names, something he never seemed to understand because he'd still call her baby whenever he wanted. The older woman was beginning to think that maybe it wasn't her family's memories that was keeping her from selling the house after all. Marceline checked the time and realized Bonnibel would have been out of school by now. She hadn't even realized how late it was.

"Ah, whatcha up to?"

"Just going to the bookstore."

In reality, Bonnibel didn't have a clue about where she was going. She just didn't want to go home or hang out with her friends. Bonnibel was still too bothered by thoughts about who Marceline was with and she had no idea why. It's not like Marceline couldn't have any friends outside of her. For her to keep her from having other friends was a ridiculous notion. So why was the thought of Marceline spending time with another person, possibly a girl, making her feel unhappy?

"And who is this?" Natasha asked; her curiosity having become piqued.

"Oh, this is Bonnibel Bubblegum. She's… my friend." Marceline looked towards Bonnibel. "Bonnie, this is Natasha and Simon Petrikov."

Bonnibel's eyes widened in recognition; so these were the people that raised Marceline.

"It's so nice to meet you! Marceline has told me a lot about you."

"She has?" Natasha and Simon couldn't hide the surprise from their voices.

The dark haired girl **never** talked about her personal life, much less her guardians. The two looked over at Marceline who looked away from them with a small blush on her face. Natasha was sure now, that she knew the reason Marceline was delaying selling the house.

"Would you like to join us?" Natasha asked.

"I wouldn't want to intrude…"

"Nonsense." Simon spoke. "We'd like to get to know you better. Please, have a seat."

Excited at the prospect of earning some form of approval from Marceline's guardians, Bonnibel quickly entered the little café. Before she knew it, she was hearing stories from Natasha and Simon about Marceline as she grew up in their care. Marceline was not enjoying hearing some of those stories since they resulted in her being embarrassed. It didn't get much better when Simon pulled out his wallet and showed Bonnibel a picture of the three of them dressed up for their first Halloween.

"I was the great Ice King, Natasha the Ice Queen, and Marceline the Vampire Queen."

"You don't look like a typical vampire, Marcy." Bonnibel held the picture in her hand. The dark haired girl had a red bass in her arms and was dressed in a grey tank top, jeans, and red boots. If you looked hard enough, you could see two small vampire teeth protruding from her grin.

"I wanted to be a cool vampire."

"Cool or not, you were still not dressed very warmly."

"We ended up having to return home early since it got too cold for Marceline to be out."

The three laughed while Marceline mumbled something about still being the coolest vampire that Halloween.

"Well we must be going." Natasha pulled out her purse to pay for the meal.

"Oh, how much do I owe?" Bonnibel only had small salad and drink. She didn't have a lot of money on her and so tried to make sure she didn't spend all her allowance.

"Don't worry dear." Natasha left some money on the table. "It's on me."

"No, it's alright; I can pay for my food. I don't want to impose on you anymore than I have."

"It's no trouble at all, however if you feel like you need to pay me back, then how about coming over for dinner tomorrow night at the house with your parents?"

"What?" Marceline looked surprised at Natasha's suggestion.

"Dinner with my parents?"

"Yes, I'd love to get to know the parents of Marceline's best friend."

"Then I'll let them know."

"Wonderful."

The group walked out of the café. Marceline, Natasha, and Simon were returning to the house while Bonnibel headed home to let her parents know of dinner the next day. She was excited that Natasha seemed to like her enough to invite her not only to eat with them, but to dinner as well.

"Bonnie!" Marceline ran to catch up with her. "Wait up!"

"What is it?"

"Ah, do you mind if I walk you home?"

"Of course not."

"Then let's go."

Marceline had a feeling Natasha was up to something. The older woman was overall a kind person, but sometimes she did things without thinking about how it would affect others around her, like having this dinner for example. Marceline suspected she had an ulterior motive for wanting to have Bonnibel's family over and it wasn't to get to know them better. If anything, she was probably going to do something that would make her want to sell the house as soon as she could. If Marceline wanted to prevent any kind of scene from happening, she needed to do something she was not looking forward to doing. Still, it was better if Bonnibel heard if from her, as opposed to from someone else.

"Hey, Bonnie?"

"Yes?"

"Umm, there's something I need to tell you."

"Okay?" Bonnibel noticed how uncomfortable Marceline suddenly sounded. "Is everything okay?"

Marceline stopped walking. Looking around, she spotted a bench and walked to it. Bonnibel followed the silent girl, her worry compounding with every step she took. What was bothering Marceline? The two sat down. Marceline leaned back looking up at the perfectly clear sky.

"I never planned to move into the house."

"What?"

Marceline continued to look at the sky.

"I'm selling the house."

Bonnibel felt her stomach drop.

"…. what?"

Marceline sighed. "When I was told I'd inherited the place, I knew I didn't want to keep it. I just wanted to get rid of it. Make some good money off of it so I could keep going to school."

"When were you going to tell me this?"

Marceline could tell Bonnibel was angry. She had a right to be. The entire time they'd been remodeling, she made it seem like she would be the one living there with how picky she was about what changes should be made. Marceline dropped her head into her hands.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I've been trying to find a good moment to tell you but every time I've tried, I chickened out. I don't know what I was hoping to accomplish by waiting. That's why Natasha and Simon are here. They've been wondering why I'm taking so long in selling the house so they came to check on me."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"Cause Natasha was going to tell you tomorrow if I didn't do it now."

Bonnibel looked surprised.

"She'd do that?"

"Yeah. She's not trying to be cruel or anything, but she probably thinks this will give me the push I need to sell it."

Bonnibel looked over to Marceline who still had yet to look at her through the entire conversation. She scooted closer to the dark haired girl and gently pulled Marceline's hand from her face. Marceline rested her arms on her legs; choosing to stay hunched over and looked at the sidewalk instead. The pink haired girl took one of Marceline's hands in her own and leaned on the older girl. The two stayed silent in that position. Bonnibel could tell Marceline was beating herself up for not being honest with her sooner.

"Why have you been waiting so long to sell it?"

Marceline tensed up. Should she be honest and tell her that it was because she'd finally admitted to herself that it was because she didn't want to leave Bonnibel behind? That she'd fallen for the pink haired girl without realizing it? No. She couldn't do it. She couldn't risk the possibility of ruining their friendship. It'd been such a gamble letting her into her life to begin with that to do something to jeopardize what they had… it'd break her if she lost Bonnibel like that. She wasn't sure how or if she' be able to recover from a blow like that.

"I guess, being there made me think about mom and dad again…. and, I don't know."

"I see." Bonnibel took a deep breath. "I'm not mad at you."

"You're not?"

"No, but I am sad that you will be leaving."

Hearing her say those words was just as bad as she thought it'd be. She would be leaving behind the pink haired girl to go back to her old life.

"I really am sorry."

"I know you are."

Marceline stood up and tugged Bonnibel along; continuing on their journey to Bonnibel's house.

"When are you putting it for sale?"

"In a few days. The inspectors still need to make sure everything is up to code. Then I need to find a realtor to put the house for sale. After that all I can do is wait for someone to make an offer."

"So we still have some time together." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah. We still have time."

She just wished it was more than what she had left.

**xxx**

Marceline walked around the dining room making sure that everything was in place for all the guests that'd be arriving. After they made it to the pink haired girl's home, Marceline gathered up her courage and talked with Mr. and Mrs. Bubblegum about not only the dinner, but about whom she was. They took the news a lot better than she thought they would. The two invited her in and talked with her a bit. Both of Bonnibel's parents were impressed that she was going to school to become an architect while also majoring in music. Marceline had never thought she'd make it in the music business but she still wanted music to be a part of her life which is why she chose to get a double major. They never asked her anything about her past or her family. All they wanted to do was get to know the person she was and what she wanted to become. It was probably the most amazing thing she'd experienced next to Bonnibel wanting to be her friend. Marceline returned to the house that night and let Natasha know that she'd be putting the house for sale in a few days. The older women had been surprised by the sudden decision, but she was pleased to hear that Marceline was no longer delaying it so she left it alone. Marceline had been hesitant to ask what it was that she'd been planning to do at the dinner, but in the end, her curiosity won out.

Natasha confirmed her suspicion about her intent to reveal to Bonnibel's parents Marceline's past, but that she didn't have to do that anymore. Marceline felt relieved that she'd taken the chance herself and chose not to tell Natasha that she'd already done so. It wasn't like it would change anything at that point to reveal that little fact.

"You sure you don't need my help cooking?" Marceline called out from the dining room.

"Simon is enough help. Just make sure everything looks good out there." Natasha called back.

Seeing that her work was complete, she decided to go outside and get a bit of fresh air. It was hard to believe that when she'd first arrived, all she wanted to do was get out as fast as possible. Being in the town her mom grew up in was an uncomfortable thing. She'd been afraid that memories of her mother would make her want to stay in the town, but her worries were unfounded. Instead, she should have been more careful about a certain pink haired girl. Marceline smiled slightly thinking about the first time she and Bonnibel met.

Their first encounter hadn't been great considering she'd scared the living day lights out of Bonnibel and her friends. It had been one of the most hilarious things she'd done in a long time. Even though she had the kids running for the hills that day, the one that stood out to her had been Bonnibel. She thought that it was because out of all of them, the pink haired girl was the only one brave enough to venture into the "haunted" house. Going into the unknown alone like that took guts. It left a bit of an impression on the older girl.

She'd been surprised to see the group of kids back after she'd scared them so much the first time. After that second scare, she was sure they wouldn't be returning, but the group surprised her again by coming back a third time and pelting her with water! That was certainly one way to fight a "ghost", but that opened the way for her and Bonnibel to grow closer. Granted there hadn't been much talking at first. She'd wanted to but it wasn't like she was good at making small talk with others. Still, Bonnibel's group of friends was good at getting her to talk.

"Are you alright?" Simon came to stand next to the silent girl.

"Yeah…"

"You don't sound too sure. Want to talk about it?"

Marceline sighed. For weeks she'd been holding back from revealing her true feelings towards a certain pink haired girl. For weeks she debated the pros and cons of revealing her feelings and for weeks, she was unable to make up her mind about what she should do. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to share her inner turmoil with someone. It'd save her the trouble of driving herself crazy if she did.

"Arg! I'm in love!" she admitted with some frustration.

Simon raised an eyebrow. Marceline had crushes; she'd never used the word love when referring to who ever held her interest before.

"Are you sure it's love?"

The dark haired girl had pondered this on more than one occasion. She'd never been in love before so she'd been hesitant to call whatever she felt towards Bonnibel that. At first she thought it could be simple affection for a friend but if that's all it was she wouldn't constantly feel the urge to want to touch her in some way. Whether it was simply holding her hand or playing with her hair, her treacherous hands wanted to hold some part of the girl's body. She'd never felt the need to do something like that with people she called friends so it couldn't be simple friendship she was experiencing. After a long process of elimination, the only thing she could call it was love. Then she began to wonder what it was that made her fall so hard.

She thought that everything about the pink haired girl made her stomach flutter was the cheesiest thing in the world, but that's what it felt like. Everything about the girl made Marceline's insides melt into a puddle of goo. Whether it was Bonnibel smiling or scolding her for her teases, she couldn't help but fall more for the pink haired girl. When did she become such a lovesick fool? But if she had to pick one reason why she fell so hard it was because…

"I'm sure. It's like….I can be myself around her. Other than you guys, I've never really opened up to anyone. Not Ash, not the few friends I have, no one. Bonnibel though is different. For some weird reason, she wanted to become my friend. I don't know why and I've never asked, but she's been the only one who's actually tried to get to know me. I've never felt so comfortable around someone."

"Fell in love without even knowing huh?"

"I fell hard."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I can't tell her!"

"Can't or won't? There's a difference you know."

"It's not that simple. This would be so much easier if we weren't already friends. At least then I wouldn't feel like I lost so much. What if I freak her out and she decides she doesn't want anything to do with me? She's the only I've let so close to me. What if I ruin the only relationship I've cared about in years? I… I don't think I could take that."

Simon watched his young charge with sympathy. Once upon a time, he too felt the pangs of lovesickness when he met his wife. The uncertainty of having those feelings returned caused him to lose out on many nights of sleep. Finally it got to a point where he felt the only way he'd be rid of his tormenting thoughts was to confess. It was always a risk to confess, but not confessing could be just as bad.

"I can understand that fear of rejection, but it won't get any better if you don't." Simon placed a hand on her shoulder; pulling her into and small hug. "Can you really leave with all those what ifs unanswered?"

"Yes…no… I don't know. I've never been so confused."

"If you're not ready to do it now then don't. Just don't wait too long. You may find yourself unable to confess for other less pleasant reasons."

The dark haired girl nodded in understanding.

"Marceline!"

The two watched in amusement as Finn and Jake raced each other to the front porch. Behind them, their respective girlfriends scolded them for acting like kids. Bonnibel and Lumpy simply shook their heads at the boy's antics. Despite her conflicting feelings, Marceline was determined to enjoy this last dinner she'd be having with the people who'd somehow become her friends. Nothing was going to ruin that.

**xxx**

Marceline zipped up her bag, taking one last look around the house that'd given her more than she though it ever would. Natasha and Simon left the day before with the promise that she'd leave the next day. Marceline needed to get back to her school so she could sort out her schedule for the coming semester. Waiting too long could result in her not being able to take the classes she needed and slowing down her progress. She definitely didn't want that to happen. Picking up her bag, she walked down the hall, past the room she let Bonnibel decorate, down the stair case where she'd first laid eyes on Bonnibel, and away from the porch where the two became friends. Marceline stopped just short of the gate. She turned back one more time to look at the house. This was really it. She was leaving.

Why was it so hard?

"Marcy?"

The dark haired girl's eyes widened. She and Bonnibel had had an awkward good bye the night before. It hadn't really been a good bye. More like a staring contest before Lumpy made them leave because it was getting late. Their parents had them on a strict curfew and they certainly didn't want to go getting trouble again.

"Bonnie? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Mom and dad let me stay home so I could go to the airport with you."

"Really?"

"Really. So how are we getting there?"

"I already called a cab so it should be here soon."

Right on cue, a yellow taxi pulled up along the curb. The two got in; both unable to say much to the other on their journey to the airport. Traffic was on the light side allowing them to arrive rather quickly. The two girls didn't know if they should feel relieved or saddened by the fact. Marceline and Bonnibel walked slowly through the busy airport in silence. The hustle and bustle of the terminal did little to drown out their thoughts. The dark haired girl looked at her companion from the corner of her eye only to meet Bonnibel's own. The two quickly looked away from the other, embarrassed that they'd been caught. Marceline silently cursed her actions. Was this how it was always going to be? Silently pining for her? Too scared to do anything about it? Simon's words were running through her mind. Should she really risk it?

Marceline checked in her only carryon luggage, giving her a little bit more time to think about what she should do. Running away from her problem was not going to solve it. Granted she wasn't leaving because of it, but it still felt like she was.

Marceline returned to Bonnibel. "Let's sit over there." There was still some time before her flight would be ready.

Bonnibel followed Marceline; the two watched as other people came and went around them.

"We'll still talk right?" Bonnibel asked.

"Of course." Marceline took out a piece of paper and wrote down her email and home address. She handed the piece of paper over to Bonnibel. "Maybe you can visit me sometime and I'll try to do the same."

Bonnibel took the paper from Marceline; their fingers brushed against each other leaving them tingling from the contact. Bonnibel watched as a faint blush appeared on Marceline's face. Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, Bonnibel wondered if perhaps she should confess. She'd gotten almost no sleep the night before from thinking about her hidden feeling for the older girl. She was scared. All this was new to her and the last thing she wanted to do was ruin whatever she had with Marceline. Not after everything she'd done to gain the older girls trust, but if she didn't confess what were the chances Marceline wouldn't fall for someone else? What if this was her only chance?

The two were startled out of their thoughts when Marceline's flight was announced. Reluctantly, the two stood up and walked towards the terminal. The closer they got the harder it felt to walk. Marceline didn't want to leave Bonnibel behind for someone else to take. She didn't want to return home only to stew and wonder how things might have been if she'd confessed. She didn't want to live regretting her first love. With a sudden pump of adrenaline, Marceline grabbed Bonnibel's arm and pulled her away from the terminal.

"M-Marcy? Where are we going?"

Marceline didn't answer and instead pulled Bonnibel into an inconspicuous corner where she soon found herself trapped between the dark haired girl and a wall.

"Mar…" Bonnibel began.

"I love you." Marceline interrupted before kissing the unsuspecting girl.

Too shocked to do anything except stand there like a statue, she watched as Marceline pulled back; her gaze a mix of tenderness, sadness and fear.

"You don't have to respond to me now. I'll wait for an answer; forever if I have to."

Marceline moved herself away from the stunned girl and dashed to her flight. Her face was a blaze of red, but Bonnibel was in no better shape. The pink haired girl slid down the wall; touching her lips still in disbelief of what just happened.

"You're such an idiot." Bonnibel mumbled as tear fell from her eyes. "You didn't even give me a chance to tell you I love you too."

Giving herself a few minutes to compose herself, she wiped one final tear from her eyes. Walking out of her hiding place, she looked determined at the gate that Marceline had gone through. Much like how their unlikely friendship began, Marceline was once again letting Bonnibel decide if she wanted to be with her. It was a little unfair, but if Marceline was going to let her decide where their relationship was headed, then she better prepare herself for the waiting she'd have to do to get her answer.

**xxx**

_Months later…_

Bonnibel looked up at the street sign, making sure she was still headed in the right direction. It's been a month now since she'd graduated from high school. She and Lumpy would be heading to separate colleges, but the two agreed to keep in touch regardless of the distance between them. They'd promise to do the same with Finn, Felicia, Jake, and Lady. The group had known each other far too long to let their friendships disappear. Bonnibel looked down at her phone and continued on the path her GPS set out for her. She was in this city to tour the college she'd be attending. Her parents were happy she'd chosen such a good college although her mother had looked at her a bit suspiciously when she'd announced where she wanted to go. It figured that her mother would be the one to catch on. Bonnibel _had_ chosen this college for ulterior motives, but that didn't change the fact that the school had the best science programs in the country. Marceline attending this school was just an added bonus.

Thinking about the dark haired girl brought a smile to her face. After the incident at the airport, Bonnibel decided to act as if nothing happened between them; mainly due to the fact she was still upset at the dark haired girl for just leaving her like that. Bonnibel imagined the look of surprise on Marceline's face upon receiving a text message saying she hoped she made it home okay. That probably wasn't what she'd been expecting. The two continued correspondence through emails, text messages, and phone calls. She'd been tempted on more than one occasion to give her answer via a phone call, but she decided something like this should be done in person. Now the time had finally come to give her answer.

Bonnibel stopped walking once her phone beeped telling her she'd reached her destination. The apartment building looked fairly nice. She'd though for sure Marceline would be living in the school dorms, but after remembering her horror story about her crazy roommate; it made sense that she'd get a place off campus for herself. She entered the building wandering around at first until she found a map of the entire complex. It was fairly easy to find Marceline's apartment after that. Belatedly, though, she wondered if Marceline would even be home. Since this was a surprise, she obviously didn't tell the older girl she'd even be in town. What if she wasn't home? All the courage she gathered to confess her own feeling would be for nothing!

Shaking the negative thoughts from her mind, she pressed on. She had to stay positive. Marceline would be home. This would all go according to plan. She reached the door marked with Marceline's apartment number. Slowly she brought her hand up to the door; her heart pounding all the while. A few knocks later, she heard a voice from the other side.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming!"

The door flew open revealing the person she'd wanted to see for so long. Whatever she'd wanted to say disappeared from her mind. Bonnibel couldn't even think, much less say her well-rehearsed confession. Her only solace was that Marceline was just as tongue tied as her.

"Bon…"

She didn't even think as she threw her arms around Marceline's neck and kissed her. The dark haired girl had frozen but it didn't take long for her to come around and return the kiss with equal fervor. The two pulled away for some much needed air.

"That's my answer." Bonnibel gasped

Marceline grinned. That was certainly the last thing she'd expected from the pink haired girl, but it couldn't have been better. All the weeks of worrying and wondering where they stood had finally come to an end.

"What took you so long to tell me?"

"To teach you a lesson for leaving me like that. You didn't even let me say good-bye."

Marceline held Bonnibel tightly in her arms; hoping to convey her regret for having done that. In hindsight, it probably hadn't been a very nice thing to do, but she'd been scared and not thinking straight. It seemed like it was a good idea at the time. What she hadn't expected was for Bonnibel to act like everything was okay. She thought that maybe this was Bonnibel's way of letting her know she was rejecting her without actually saying so, but the pink haired girl would never do something like.

"I'm sorry. I was just scared that you'd reject me; that I'd scare you away."

Bonnibel returned the hug, hoping to ease the older girl's worries.

"I'll never leave you Marcy. You're mine."

"Someone's possessive." Marceline said with a smirk.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "Shut up and kiss me."

**AN:** And they lived happily ever after. I hope you all enjoyed this short story. Now I need to go and lay down. Until next time!


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